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Just think of all the piracy on university campuses that could be stopped if they got rid of students altogether!
Combating music piracy at Tennessee’s public university system is more important than hiring teachers and keeping down tuition costs.
Just-signed legislation requires the 222,000-student system to spend an estimated $9.5 million for file sharing “monitoring software,” “monitoring hardware” and an additional “recurring cost of $1,575,000 for 21 staff positions and benefits (@75,000 each) to monitor network traffic” of its students.
Tennessee’s measure, approved Wednesday by Gov. Phil Bredesen, was the nation’s first in a bid to combat online file sharing within state-funded universities.
The law, similar versions of which the Recording Industry Association of America wants throughout the United States, comes as the Tennessee public university system is increasing tuition, laying off teachers and leaving unfilled vacant instructor positions to battle a $43.7 million shortfall.
[…]
The students may have more time to pilfer copyrighted works because their classes might be canceled for lack of funding. Using conservative estimates, the piracy measure is equal to the price of about 100 Tennessee professors’ wages and benefits.
This is unconstitutional.
This money could go to GM and other charities.
When will we stop letting private industry and interests define public policy and basically define government. Let’s take our country back from the absurd.
Having worked IT in a large, public university, I can tell you a few things.
1 – They get letters and notices from the RIAA and the MPAA every day.
2 – Most of them are for the students.
3 – Some are for the professors or staff members!
4 – It’s getting out of hand, and I’m not talking about the students, staff or profs.
Maybe most of the Tennessee legislators didn’t go to their higher education facilities.
The USA passed “absurd” at 299 mph and isn’t looking back. Tennessee, the new self-feeding, self-imposed lap dog of the recording industry.
The more they tighten their grip, the more file sharers will escape their foul clutches.
@Sinn Fein
Nice paraphrase of a Princess Leia quote and you are quite correct. The P2P scene needs selection pressure to evolve.
Mandatory “Creationism” Classes next ???
75k a year to monitor traffic, I need to send in my resume…
Not really, I’d simply ignore all the traffic while playing World of Warcraft.
I’m a proud downloader but I’m also a proud consumer, who buys music worth owning on physical media. If I don’t like it when I download it I delete it, if I like it I buy it for my car in a few weeks.
Old men with old technology
Small things for small minds
Time to change the copyright laws,
Scrap the ILLEGAL cartels that are the RIAA and MPAA
why should the legal fingers twiddle on music and video while the economy burns
Like anyone goes to Tennessee for their outstanding educational system.
/sarcasm
The RIAA and MPAA should cozy up to the NSA. They are monitoring everything already.
Hold on – there’s someone knocking at the door…
This is halarious, have these guys not heard of encyrption? Some clever students are going to make a shit load out of this.
I live in TN. These guys are going to get an earfull.
Working at a public university, I can promise you we get lots of letters each day from the RIAA. Some go to faculty, most students. And it is getting worse.
I’m not talking about the “illegally” shared music, I’m talking about the letters. Every move the RIAA makes only makes their situation worse. If they gave up and embraced technology this problem would all but disappear. Some will always steal stuff and never pay for it but most search for stuff they like then BUY THE MUSIC! The result: music sales go UP! Unless, of course, someone’s threatening to sue you. Then they go down!
RIAA and MPAA are prehistoric (or predigital) dinosaurs who couldn’t think their way out of a bag. Idiots. May they disappear. Something will take their place and it has to be better!
And the shame of it is, there has been no decent sounds that could pass for music over the past 40 years worth stealing. More money wasted on no return.
The south will never rise again, they still have their heads up their behinds and need that analoptic nerve fix.
That’s the nerve that connects the eyeball to the asshole and gives one a shitty outlook on life.