How the RIAA Catches Music Pirates

Did you know that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) uses LimeWire to catch music pirates? In case you've never heard of Limewire, it's a file sharing program that lets users connect to other users around the world in order to share music/files/video. However, some of the files shared are copyrighted. Hence, laws are broken when they're copied from user to user.

Here's the jist of it:
A) The RIAA hired a company to use Limewire to track illegal downloading.
B) The company uses a list of copyrighted songs to see who's trading illegally.
C) The IP address of the user is tracked to discover the user's network
D) Songs are sampled to discover if they are in fact the copywritten song in question. Depending on the situation, the songs are downloaded and listened to by a human or digitally compared to a copywritten file.
E) In smaller cases, the service provider/college is contacted with a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice asking them to remove infringing content from its network.
F) In larger cases, the RIAA sends the service provider/college a prelitigation settlement letter allowing them to settle for several thousand dollars in lieu of going to court.
G) The process for dealing with colleges is mostly automated, while the process for dealing with service providers is completely manual.

The following article further details how the process works. Check it out here and answer one of the following questions:

1) Research the Web using Google to find out what content is included in a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice.

2) Why do you think people share music even if it's illegal?

3) Should Limewire be held responsible for the actions of its users? Why or why not?

4) Should colleges be held responsible for the actions of its students? Why or why not?

5) Research the Web using Google to find out what content is included in a RIAA prelitigation settlement letter.

6) Why do you think college's have a difficult time accepting the fact that illegal downloads occur on their networks?

7) What are the benefits and drawbacks to using an automated process to discover piracy.

Here's a You Tube Video based on a Weird Al song on music piracy. Enjoy!

Employee Spying

Did you know that it's legal for your boss to spy on you while you're working? According to an article in PC Magazine, 66% of all employers monitor Internet use. One third of them have fired an employee for visiting sites like Facebook or playing games online. Other employers will read their employees' email to make sure they are not trading private information. Since employers own the machines, they can load tracking software that will track instant messages or even track each key hit by the employee.

Read the full article here . You can choose from the following questions if you're having trouble coming up with a response on your own:

1) What are some of the products employers can use to track employee Internet access? What features do these products offer?

2) Do you know if your employer tracks your movement online? If your employer tracks, what information do they look at?

3) Did you have to sign an Acceptable Use Policy when you were hired? If so, what did it contain?