The entertainment industry, fronted by the RIAA, is to start test marketing direct sales to US colleges next spring.

And the the schools will use public money to pay for it.

Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University and co-chair of the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, is quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education as saying a number of colleges are negotiating with online-music services to test a campuswide program under which colleges would pay the companies to let students download music.

Moreover, "Mr. Spanier said Penn State and other colleges would use institutional funds to pay for the pilot service on their campuses, rather than charge students individually. Penn State has yet to decide whether to make the service available for all its students or just a limited number, he said."

He's also quoted in the same piece as saying, "If they can develop a brand name and service loyalty to millions of college students, they have a leg up in developing a customer base for decades ahead."

And why not? Hollywood, of which the labels and movie houses are but components, already routinely uses publicly funded police and other enforcement forces around the world to protect its business interests.

In the meanwhile, by an amazing coincidence, with Spanier as co-chair of the Joint Committee, which is the creation of the international entertainment industry, is RIAA president Cary-Sue Sherman.

"The negotiations are part of a broad effort by the recording industry and colleges to stem the online pirating of music by college students," says the Chronicle report.

"The Recording Industry Association of America says the sharing of music online by students and others has sharply reduced the sale of music on compact disks, and the group has begun a campaign of identifying and suing people who illegally share large numbers of music files."

Anyone who believe this is yet another entertainment industry marketing ploy baldly disguised as a way to thwart the wicked online pirates is, of course, a sadly misguided cynic. This is all being done to protect students from being dragged into court after being relentlessly and ruthlessly assaulted by subpoenas issued by - - - -

- - - - But NO! That can't be! The RIAA?

Anyway, "Mr. Spanier made the disclosure on Tuesday during a news conference at which he discussed the progress of a committee he heads with Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, that is charged with prodding colleges to find ways to reduce illegal file sharing by students," says the Chronicle, going on that last June the committee "asked for information from online-media companies" that could provide campuses with music and video service.

The committee asked for information from 'online-media companies'? Through the RIAA, Sherman and other committee 'members', are the online media.

"Another request for information went out to technology companies that could help colleges with blocking or filtering technologies to limit file sharing," says the report.

Is there any chance that the companies supplying these valuable technologies will be linked to the RIAA, MPAA or Hollywood in any way, shape or form?

Of course not.

"Penn State and the University of Rochester are expected to be part of the pilot program," the Chronicle goes on. "Other colleges that will be involved may be disclosed by the end of this month, Mr. Spanier said. 'We're hoping for a variety of institutions - some large, some small, public, private, universities which have different IT systems - to assess how the pilot is working', he said."

"If the pilot is successful, colleges could consider making it permanent. Higher-education officials have discussed the idea, for example, of having colleges include in tuition or student-activities fees a subscription to a music service for students.

"Online-music services would be well served by offering colleges a 'low priced' option permitting students to listen to music over the Internet, Mr. Spanier said.

Yet another ploy that will fail miserably. Public funds to prop the failing industry. Isn't that borderline illegal? I say any college that does this should also be boycotted into the ground!

I can't believe this garbage. The RIAA's audacity truly knows no bounds. Let me see if I've got this right: First, they want to sue the students of Penn State into oblivion. Next, they follow up by cramming crappy on-line music services down their throats? This sounds like the PERFECT boycott opportunity. Why be loyal to the RIAA, they will rape you.

Is this some kind of sick joke?

A way of making it easier to track filesharers?
Maybe forcing you to use a service that you might not want? Why should I have to have the music service I use picked out for me by my school. Are they going to pick out my classes next? How about what I'm going to wear? Why don't they just tell me what Telephone carrier, electric company, gas station, TV or radio station to use. How about what soap, coffee, cereal, deodorant, toilet paper, and fabric softner is best for me?
I know, why don't you just put a leash on me and show me how to live, because it's obvious that it's too dangerous to let me think and make decisions for myself.

The RIAA may as well go ahead and do like the insurance industry has done... buy laws that state "it is illegal not to purchase from us." I see this as the first step in that direction.

Until we "grass-rooters" come up with some $$$ to counter-bribe our government officials, we can NOT win. Face the reality folks. This is a CAPITOLIST society. Our laws belong to the highest bidder.

Are you sick too? I sure am.

Founding fathers rolling over in their graves...

Support Local and Independent Music!

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy

FileSharers : 52 Million users and growing. Thats a big stick to whack at those officials.

Forgive me if I'm mistaken here, but with this statement "Higher-education officials have discussed the idea, for example, of having colleges include in tuition or student-activities (fees for a subscription to a music service) for students"

Doesn't the American public in general have music on your cable services already in place, like we do in Canada? We have something like 20 different music genres (channels) that play non stop music. If they want to set up the universities with music, or if the universities even wanted that service, why wouldn't they just go through their cable service? Why pay twice for this kind of service?

Or/And if they can provide this kind of service through university fees? (a music subscription) Then why not through our isp cable fees? for all of us? But it would still have to be the right kind of service! pepe

If the music services have DRM the students won't go for it. If the services don't have DRM, a few students might subscribe, then download and make copies for everyone else. Either way, it will fail.

PS Smile everyone. With the RIAA now trying to make deals with the universities, you gotta know that THEY know they are foosbar! Keep up the pressure We're winning! pepe

I can just see the resident RIAA faculty adviser calling little Johnny in and sitting him down for a talk.
" Now Johnny, you've been falling down on your 50 Cent and Missy Elliot downloads this month. I'm afraid we can't tolerate that if you are to remain in this college."

Folks in PA should say "NOT WITH MY PUBLIC FUNDS YOU DON'T!" Hmmm...need to write MORE letters to leaders...where's that pesky PA senator...
~code

if this is a pilot program then it must be the same one for the Hindenburg, Titanic, Spruce Goose and every other manmade disaster. This is tantamount to letting the foxes raise the chickens and putting them in charge of the chicken coop too

ok stupid contact us button not working so i have to go ot

check this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555673237&category=618

If the administrators and teachers at these facilities go for this plan, we have to wonder who's going to be in charge of teaching future generations in this country. If these administrators go into collusion with the RIAA.
It should be illegal to use institutional funds to enable the RIAA to begin a start up company that would earn them a profit. I'm sure the RIAA, however, is offering some sort of kickback to institutions in order for these new servers to fly. And,
I suspect that these "servers" will eventually be taken over by RIAA

Instead of calling America the great "melting pot," our new motto should be "ca-ching" (the cash register bell,) because the rights that should be free to any citizen in this country are being bought and sold to the highest bidder.

Corporations are even trying to start to affect children's mindsets early now by using the cartoons to accomplish this.
I caught an Archie cartoon yesterday. Remember Archie, Veronica, and Jughead? Well, there's an animated series now. Archie's "mystery" led him to uncovering corporate wrongdoing when a soda company was manufacturing a soda formula that could cause folks to "change into monsters" Archie was about to go to the press with his story, when the people of his town begged him not too. They were too worried about jobs, so they asked him to let this bungle by the corporation slide. Archie does so, and in the press, ends up saying how great the product is in order to salvage "corporation jobs" for his town. In the end, Archie says, "I couldn't live my dreams and become a star [by exposing corporate wrongdoing] but I saved my town jobs, and that's what matters most.

Currently $100,000.00 First bid $0.01 lol

MerylStryfe you are souneding like you been brainwashed who cares about jobs for a town when the little guy and the artests thats working for them is being screwed while the fat cats are makeing all the real money and the public is being screwed out of every penney thay can be leagaly well not shur if it's even leagal price gouging seems to come to mind and that is changing now so what if thay lowered there CD sales it's still a pigs product that should be left to the pigs to lisson to after there broke and asking for hand outs at the local wellfare

This smacks of the classic ruse of set 'em up and knock 'em down. The RIAA has the students, parents, and schools cowering in fear of lawsuits, and then steps in to make everything better with the perfect solution - give us exclusive access to thousands of consumers, and pay for it with tuition dollars. How is it that so-called educated people let this happen?

This atrocity is a prime opportunity for indie artists and labels however. Every indie artist and label should send a letter to any school considering this move. State that if the RIAA is allowed to directly market goods to students, independent artists must have this right also.

MerylStryfe: On the use of cartoons to influence children:
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47806,00.html

I was given the new sixth form contact book/homework diary today (now binned). Intrestingly on the last page was a useful list of phone numbers, includeing the usual emergency numbers, drugs reporting number, and, strangely, a rape suport line But whats at the end? Those last five numbers were different: Two were for football tickets and three were for cinemas! Advertiseing everywhere.

I'm confused. Will public money that once was used to fund education in our state colleges and universities go to pay for RIAA's music?

The convoluted notion that money will be better spent for music as opposed to classrooms, better teaching salaries, or improved academic infrastructure is a farce. We should press our LOCAL, STATE politicans to write bills blocking any public funds from going to pay for music downloads on campus.

Uh, I don't know if you read my post all the way through koemoejoe. I don't even know if you read the early statements. ARCHIE IS A CARTOON. I mentioned the Archie cartoon because I believe that corporations realize that this is a way to reach younger minds who have not built up ways to critical think about the information that they are receiving.
I believe that Warner Brothers (who is the owner of the Archie anime) was
using this cartoon episode as an attempt to brainwash the minds of younger children to prevent them from becoming future "whistleblowers." Anyway, in 2001, the whistleblowers had a major impact on coporations like MCI WorldCON and ENRON... Koemoejoe, I don't think that I made this clear in my previous post, if I did, I apologize

But, I kind of take offense to you saying that I'm being brainwashed by the major corporations, especially since I have experienced first-hand what it's like to be screwed by these companies. I've also witnessed others suffer the same assault after losing their jobs.

But, I thought I made that clear earlier. As, I stated before, koemoejoe..I don't think that you read my post all the way through before posting a comment. Anyway, if I didn't make myself clear...I'm sorry.

And Code LOL @ that bid!

well sorry ummm that whas about the only artical i read bye yours that made me look up and check out your name i guess i should watch what others say a bit more i seemed to have missed this tid bit lol

Corporations are even trying to start to affect children's mindsets early now by using the cartoons to accomplish this.

so i truly am sorry i did not want to hurt your fealings :0)

THIS JUST IN!! ANOTHER VICTORY!
http://wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60293,00.html

feisar - see 'Come Back, Come Back! - UMG begs buyers'

Finally, one of those recording big wigs gets it. I still won't buy anything from them until their RIAA lap dogs stop suing, but once that happens, I'll probably be more inclined to buy UMG CDs, if I like the music, of course.

I can't believe this thing about the colleges. My school has a bankrupt music department and is in desperate need of more student parking. I absolutely refuse to let this school give money to sponsor talentless, eye candy 'artists' until they first give some money to their own music.

See, now they F'in with my school...If any Penn Staters are Reading this.. WE ARE BOYCOTTING!!

Spanier and Cary-sue are on each others nuts now. The students need to protest against this, they will ultimately wind up paying for the institutional funds used to feed the RIAA. It's grossly unethical to mix the RIAA's greed with resources that fund education.

Truth is, we should have seen it coming... anyone who has ever visited penn state knows... PSU = Pepsi State University

Heh, koemoejoe, no problem.

the RIAA babys need to grow up, and face the facts that WE DON'T WANT THEM anymore. And yes this does seem boarder line ILLEGAL. Pluse it is vulgar and ruthless.

Iostreamh: PSU sponsored hevily by pepsi

whats the deal with WinMX? I tried it a few months ago but it was a bit glitchy. Any users here know if the RIAA has been tracking it?

(early apology for the tangent - Sorry!)

Feisar: Yes, didn't you know, they have built in third eyes in the forehead of that MP3 player, they can monitor all of your typing and other illicit activities that you do on your keyboard!!

AAAHHH!!!!

Just kidding!

I also noticed that too and stopped using it a while back. Is it possible that the WinMX bandwidth is at it's max and they just haven't done anything to alleviate the congestion problem on their end?

Anyone? anyone? Bue-*(&U9uf0-v

(Sorry for the interruption, this is the MPAA - you are no longer allowed to quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off - thank you for this interruption!)

What kind of BS is this? Tuition is high enough now, and they want to institute some worthless p2p prog for the students?

OK, it's time for me to network with some parents and let them know what the hell is blowing in the wind.

We pay the damn bills, and we're damn well gonna get in somebody's face here.

I just have to add to the cartoon post earlier; like a year ago I was flipping through the channels and one of the cartoons on Disney Channel (don't know the show's title), had an episode running about mp3 downloading.

There was a new website put up which provided easy mp3 downloads; the family's daughter was downloading some songs when suddenly a force of ~15 police cars come piling up to their house. The computer is taken away and she is repremanded.

Now here's the great part! The next day the daughter is being shunned by her classmates at school; after school she visits her friend at work, who works at a record store, of course the store is closing down due to mp3 downloading. Then, out of nowhere, the father is laid off too because; he works at a snack food company and since mp3 downloaded has halted the production of cd's, artists are not throwing album release parties and thus are not buying snack foods!!!

I swear to god this was actually on tv!

wow.. the RIAA is trying to hit us up from all angles here.. HOLY SHIT!! I just read that the RIAA is now promoting an amnesty campaign to allow file sharers to come forward with amnesty as long as they sign something saying that they won't download any songs and erase current songs on your hard drives... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. sorry, but this is histarical.. what does this mean ladies and gentlemen???

DESPERATION!!!! they are losing.. keep up the fight.. don't ever give up.. this issue is not just about file sharing music, it's also about the average person actually having the upperhand on a fat cat industry screwing people over for the last quarter of a century.... if only technology could free us from all overly bloated industries screwing us by paying low wages, no health care, and reaping in huge profits even while the economy continues to crumble! CEO's making 20 million a year? Rappers making 50 million a year (MASTER P).. fuck that.. pay them a million and tell them to fuck off when they want more money.. Greed folks...

15 Police Cars?! Yo, ok....no disrespect to police or pig government stooges, but, this is a warning. IF YOU DARE ENTER MY HOUSE TO CONFISCATE MY COMPUTER, THERE WILL ONLY BE ABOUT 11 OR 12 DRIVERS REMAINING FOR THE 15 CARS THAT PULL IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Folks, remember that opening scene in the 'Hotel O' the City' in The Matrix. That's the shit I am talking about. If you manage to circumnavigate my self-installed (Yes, I am proud) night vision security cams and my 4 dogs, you will have a Katana and a Mossberg to face. Not to mention the crude virus that will be uploaded indescriminately to Cary when my alarms go off. FUCK WITH ME! PLEASE!

Heh dakota, it's surprising and scary that these companies are trying to brainwash our children into submission early. What is happening in the States now is beginning to take on an Orwellian aura.

Heh, dakota. God help us if Britney Spears didn't have enough money to buy her next big stick of gum. (Heh...for those who don't know what I'm talking about...catch out the CNN interview with bow-tie wearing Crossfire host Tucker "Toupe" Carlson. (Yes...he wears a toupe. Britney out does herself by chewing annoyingly on a stick of gum throughout the interview, talking almost valley-girlish and sporting a really bad wig and really bad acting... These are the "artists" the RIAA wants to push on the public?)

Meryl, I was thinking the same thing. I saw the clip you're talking about, while I was channel surfing for something decent to watch. Could she have been any more annoying with that gum? Yeah, the hairpiece (hers) sucked mightily.

Her handlers must be very confused. They let her swap spit with Madonna on stage one day, and then they get her to act like a 12 year old the next.

Talk about schizophrenia.

Britney's a HO. An inarticulate HO at that... anyone note the CNN interview on CNN.com?

Look, ya know what's closing record stores? I have some contacts in the industry, and though most are holding the Big 5 Line, the truth is , people are not buying their crap, because of the boycott, and the fact that most of their music is crap. The last CD I bought, which at the time, I didn't know was an RIAA label, was Darryl Hall's CD, his newest one. It's from a label called Liquid 8, and at the time, didn't know about RIAA radar to check. Anyway, I have been a fall of Hall and Oates from their fist album, a LONG time ago (for me, their Me and Mrs. Jones is the best version of that song out there). Darryl's album, though "listenable" sounds like he just wandered through it. It doesn't have the emotion and soul he demonstrated on his Motown hits album.
I think artists just down give a crap anymore. They are fulfilling contractual obligations, don't give a crap about fans anymore, and just want to get as much money as possible before the bottom falls out.

Hey, they don't care enough for their art and fans to really try to put out quality anymore, and the RIAA hates the fans? ...cool with me.

I'll buy INDIE from now on~!
~code

mean fan of Hall and Oates, not fall.
sorry

thats nothing, intel sponsers a school a kid i know told me about were you are monitered by cameras were ever you are, can only use software or computors certified by microshaft(no linux allowed). no radio signals can enter or leave the building. the school is essentialy a high security prison.

lets not forget microsofts attempt to destroy the computors of mac's linux machines and anything with hardware from a company not in bed with microsoft.
(palladium)

Tell your kids what a joke the RIAA is, but do it in a way they won't rebel against.

In fact, use the rebellion concept to get them to turn this into the most major, mass campaign to end corporate facism ever! Once they know that they will be bucking a bunch of old fogey fat-cats that want to bring them and their future prodigeny down to being consumer-slaves, they may be the ones to deal a final, financial blow to the RIAA Gestappo.

Print out that list of RIAA labels and show the kids just who wants them to be good little consumer serfs forever and ever.

Tell your kids that every dollar spent on anything connected to the RIAA can ruin peoples lives, destory Constitutional freedoms in the process, (for generations to come) and even take away their choices about music, and they might start to realize that their dollars, (which corporations are going for more and more) could be spent elsewhere.

Do the damn BOYCOTT people! Do it for real and with enegy and force and honesty. Do it now! Do it like a REAL and heart-felt revolution. Smash the RIAA with your dollars and get others to do it to. Make it a virus that everyone catches. When the RIAA sees ALL their sales plummet to the ground, they may get even more desperate, but the People will have spoken. They will have spoken loud, and one great evil will find that it will not win out in the end. It will not be able to rob and plunder and find legal ways to justify its pure vile greed when challenged.

Let's do everything we can to end this and challenge the people who know so well how to exploit the system, and spin the spin, and take us all for a REAL ride.

When we CONQUER the RIAA it will be a message that tells the other Robber Barons that we are going to use everything we have at our means and in our power to prove that this is NOT a one-sided issue!

Agreed?

Universities paying the RIAA not to sue their students? That sounds a lot like protection money It is not a subscription music service they are proposing as the RIAA claims. The difference is that a university could not pay for a legitimate service if they wanted, through students might not be too pleased at having to pay for their own account. In the RIAAs proposed protection scheme, any university that doesn't subscribe will become a big red target in the sue 'em all campaign.