FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Pirates of The
Internet” Beware Says Congress
To Universities
***
Congress Sends a Threatening Ultimatum
and Survey
to Universities to Respond in less than
30-days to a Laundry List of Questions of Internet Piracy Using Taxpayer facilities
“The fact
that copyright piracy is not unique to college and university campuses is not
an excuse for higher education officials to fail to take reasonable steps
neither to eliminate such activity nor to appropriately sanction such conduct
when discovered,” said a letter addressed to President Martin C. Jischke,
Recent
studies reveal that, 44 percent of the domestic piracy losses suffered
by the
U.S. motion picture industry - more than half a billion dollars annually – were
attributed to college students, while a Spring 2006 survey by Student Monitor found
more than half of all college students download music and movies illegally.
Meantime,
a recent survey of college students conducted by the NPD market research firm
found that students reported that more than two-thirds of all music they
acquired was illegally obtained. NPD
also concluded college students were responsible for more than 1.3 billion
illegal music downloads in 2006 and that college students disproportionately
used P2P networks to download unauthorized music files (i.e. college students accounted
for 21 percent of all P2P users but 26 percent of all P2P downloaded music
files.)
“This
theft of digital intellectual property is in the billions of dollars. Beyond
the money, the cost includes job losses and severe economic dislocation. No
college or professor would tolerate this theft if it were its own intellectual
property,” said CEO & President Safwat Fahmy, SafeMedia Corp., based in
Boca Raton, Fl. SafeMedia developed the Clouseau®, which prevents P2P
downloading of illegal music and other copyrighted materials.
“P2P is a
not viable distribution channel for the recording industry and the
entertainment industry in general,” explained Fahmy.
“There is a practical, effective,
efficient, and inexpensive technology that will end campus P2P and intellectual
property theft, and protect the best interests of all members of the campus
community—Clouseau from SafeMedia Corp,” said Fahmy.
According to SafeMedia Corp.,
Clouseau is the only technology that ensures universal digital property
copyright protection on campus. It unobtrusively halts all illegal P2P
activity. It never interferes with legitimate network traffic including legal
BitTorrent, email, and VoIP. Clouseau respects academic freedom, protects First
Amendment rights, and never violates user privacy.
“Most importantly, compliance with
copyright protection ensures that all members of the academic community—faculty,
staff and students—respect the rights and privileges of all intellectual
properties whether created on or off campus,” he said. “It is available today for installation and
has already been tested at
The threatening letters were sent to
the presidents of University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Boston University, Columbia University,
Duke University, Howard University, Michigan State University, North Carolina
State University, Ohio University, Rochester Institute of Technology,
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Massachusetts at Boston,
University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska at
Lincoln, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, University of
Wisconsin at Madison, Vanderbilt University and Purdue University. The letters
were signed by the chairs of the Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts,
the Internet and Intellectual Property and Education and Labor Committee.
The letter ends with: "Survey of
University Network and Data Integrity Practices," is to be completed and
returned to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property
no later than
“The presence of your institution on
both "Top Ten" lists is a
troubling indication that authorized users of your university computer networks
routinely utilize your facilities to engage in the theft of copyrighted works,”
the letter said. “Your full and complete responses to the enclosed survey will
assist us in determining what "best practices" need to be instituted.
It will also help us to assess whether Congress needs to advance legislation to
ensure the unacceptable use of educational facilities to obtain or traffic in
copyrighted goods is no longer commonly associated with student life on some
Of some 400 Recording Industry Assn. of
America (RIAA) pre-litigation letters sent out in February, more than 115
students responded and have settled with the association. Those who did not respond, according to
published reports, lawsuits are being prepared.
SafeMedia’s Clouseau® technology
provides an easy, immediate and cost-effective way to totally protect networks
and home computers from the dangers of illegal file-sharing. For more about SafeMedia Corp.’s Technology
and the Clouseau® visit: www.SafeMediaCorp.com.
Visit their Blog at: http://SafeMediaCorp.Blogspot.com.