Wondering why the RIAA targeted minimal file sharers at the University of North Carolina? Maybe it's because sharing isn't a dirty word at UNC.

From an article posted today at Wired it becomes apparent that UNC is pushing legitimate file sharing and has been doing it longer than anyone.

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina -- Want to sit in on a Tibetan monks' science class?

Perhaps you're curious about how kudzu grows? Maybe you'd like to listen to some classic Southern folk music, hear a Nobel Prize-winning poet read his work, learn how to upload your mind, tend bees, speak Japanese or heal with herbs?

Or you might just want to download some free software.

Ibiblio, one of the Web's oldest and largest digital libraries, has all this and much, much more -- and all of it is completely free to visitors, thanks to backing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and technology companies like Linux distributor Red Hat.

"Making the invisible visible is what ibiblio does best," said ibiblio director Paul Jones.

Ibiblio's staff and contributors rescue documents, videos, audio and image files from dusty archives or attics where few could view them and put them on the Web, where anyone with an Internet connection can retrieve the information.

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It's no wonder that the RIAA had to go for someone at UNC. Why, these people are just giving intellectual property away for free. People might learn something on their own or, even worse, build upon the works of others.

This entire nightmare of education, working together for a common goal, and greedless sharing goes against everything the RIAA stands for.

Soon, they'll be in the high schools and grade schools so they can root out this plague of altruistic selfless behavior before it is allowed to spread.

Great article George. This explains a lot , since I was wondering what got the RIAA's panties in a bunch over 9 songs.

It's their "make an example out of them" approach all over again.

"Soon, they'll be in the high schools and grade schools so they can root out this plague of altruistic selfless behavior before it is allowed to spread."

Actually, this probably will happen!

The next time North Carolina plays Penn State in a sporting event, we should try to attend and cheer for NC.

The RIAA is going to put out a children's book called "Sharing is Bad!!!" It will teach children how sharing their toys costs Malaysian sweatshop workers their jobs.

The RIAA are working toward a common gaol

MY kids wont be participating in that program, they're gonna call me to come get them... by the way Code... if ya thought I was a fairly big dude... my brother in law is 7'2" @325 lbs!
( He's even dumber than I am... he hits his head alot!) YES we ARE taking Wrestling classes!

very good article...

I'd like them to come to my school and try to dumb us down and make us believe that learning from other's mistakes and/or acomplishments is illegal. Then I will reveal to everyone the truth and the fact that the speaker was from the RIAA and what he actually stands for and why it's bad. Ohhh I can't wait

Remember that episode of the "Simpsons" where Barts school goes on a field trip to a civil war re-inactment. and they did not have money to go in? So they watch over a fence...at a long distance, only to have the people there yell "Hey..look, they're trying to leanr for free! lets get em!" I am thinging now...thats not so funny anymore. It all comes down to Where ever there is a demand for free...charge em for it.

alexanderthegreat..your brother is 7'19" and weighed 370 ...man, that's tall!...

Have you ever seen movie film or pictures of Robert Wadlow? He was 8'11.1" (almost 9 feet tall) When he died, we weighed 490 pounds and wore size 37 custom made shoes, which costs 100 bucks (a lot of money in the '30s)

He died of an infected blister when he was 22. His casket weighed a thousand pounds...

Darn...that got depressing...I just think the story is interesting..he was 7'2" at age 16...can you imagine being that much taller than anyone at that age?
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/ILALTwadlow.html

It's sad that the RIAA has such a strong hold upon many facets of American life including education.. Personally, I think education encouraging file sharing is great. I've actually learned a lot by file sharing because I can download a lot of imformation as about as fast as I can think it up. I can testify that file sharing has in fact had a very positive effect on my life and other lives i'm sure. Keep your dirty hands off of education establishments RIAA!

The RIAA doesn't if you want to share YOUR stuff. It only cares when you want to "share" THEIR stuff.

Code, actually, my bro in law had alot of problems too.. constant pnemonia and ear infections when he was a kid, and he hit 7' just before his 17th b-day. He went through his teens hoping to become the tallest guy on record (since he hates basket ball). He wears 4X shirts, but pants are hard to find, as are shoes, If I remember right, he wears either a 17 or a 19 shoe, I have a bit easier time with shoes, I wear a 14.

What I am wondering the most these days, is does the DMCA anywhere in it's entirety, allow a third party entity to track IP's across any private (i.e. the university domain) networks to obtain a direct IP address without following proper procedural guidelines in getting permission from the private entity? I understand that UNC's network facilities could be considered equal to an ISP's, but since the network is usually closed unto itself with firewalls and from most probing accesses outside of the campus, isn't the ISP provision considered a grey area when it comes to .edu domains since students are not paying for access?

I'm wondering if there is any possibility of getting clarification on this by someone on here...

Code, care to respond?

spareme, the RIAA cares VERY MUCH if we share "our" stuff, they ONLY want you to share RIAA stuff (and charge an arm and a leg for it!) The whole thing is about the control over what can be shared. The RIAA knows DAMN WELL that sharing RIAA stuff only helps promote RIAA sales. They just won't admit it.

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
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