OT - [grue@merit.edu: Oklahoma student may face music download charges]

[Paul Melson]

	Somebody inquired about the MPAA/RIAA asking
	universities to block access to Napster.  I
	figured this warranted forwarding.


----- Forwarded message from Paul Howell <grue@merit.edu> -----

Delivered-To: netsec-outgoing@merit.edu
To: netsec@merit.edu
Subject: Oklahoma student may face music download charges
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 09:57:50 -0400
From: Paul Howell <grue@merit.edu>
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: netsec@merit.edu


At http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000918/en/music-student_1.html

Monday September 18 7:55 PM ET
Oklahoma student may face music download charges 

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - An Oklahoma State
University student could face criminal charges of copyright
infringement after police found as many as 1,000 Internet
music files on his computer, campus police said Monday.

Police seized the personal computer and a CD recorder
from the student's dorm room after university officials were
notified by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), which is campaigning against the wide-spread
practice of copying and moving music over the Internet.

University officials said the Washington D.C.-based RIAA,
which represents big record companies, had notified the
school that it had detected a high volume of music
downloads to the campus computer network.

``My understanding is he was maintaining files of all these
songs and making them available to others,'' said Chief
Everett Eaton of the Oklahoma State University Police
Department.

A computer forensic specialist has since been busy
analyzing the files on the computer's hard drive, said OSU
police Lt. Steve Altman.

``The computer specialist feels there may be in excess of a
thousand files,'' Altman said. ``That could cause state
felony charges to be filed for copyright infringement.''

Altman declined to name the 19-year-old male student,
who has not been arrested. The results of the police
investigation will be turned over to a district attorney and it
could be weeks before any charges are filed, Altman said.

Nestor Gonzales, a spokesman for the university, said the
student was downloading music using several different
Internet protocols including Napster, a program that allows
users to exchange music via the Internet.

``That was one of the protocols he was using,'' Gonzales
said. ``He may have been using others. It wouldn't have
mattered. The high volume of downloads warranted
action.''

``It does not appear he was selling the files or profiting in
any way from the downloads,'' Gonzales added.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS 


----- End forwarded message -----

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