An anonymous reader writes:
I attend Purdue University and apparently, they will be bowing to the RIAA not soon after another Big 10 school spat in their face (University of Wisconsin). Every student has been sent the following email:
Some users of the Purdue University Internet network this week will begin receiving notices of threatened legal action from the Recording Industry Association of America.
In a stepped-up effort to enforce music copyright, the association is harvesting Internet addresses of computers that allegedly offered music for others to download illegally. It then is sending emails to Internet service providers and asking that the emails be forwarded to these computer users.
The notices offer the option of paying a settlement fee or facing legal action.
Purdue University, as an Internet service provider, will forward these emails to the user of the specified address when the user can be accurately identified. While the university will do its best to deliver these notices to the proper individuals, it is not responsible for the accuracy of the identification or address to which such notices are sent.
It will be up to each recipient to decide how to respond to these notices.
All users of Purdue IT resources are ultimately responsible for their own conduct and for responding to any notification received from a copyright owner. Should an individual choose not to pay the settlement, the RIAA may ask Purdue for its logs for the purpose of pursuing legal action. The next step would be for RIAA to file a request to subpoena the name of the computer owner. The university will at all times honor valid subpoenas.
Purdue does not generally monitor the content of Internet transmissions.
The university, however, can match computers to the addresses they use when connecting to the Internet.
Information on your legal obligations and methods to protect yourself can be found at:
http://www.purdue.edu/securepurdue/copyright.cfm
Individuals with questions regarding the settlement notice should contact legal counsel of their own choosing for advice.
Sincerely,
Gerry McCartney
Interim Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Purdue University
Thomas B. Robinson
Vice President for Student Services
Purdue University