VIDEOLIB Archive: [Videolib] News -- Students at MIT create file-swap work-around

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STUDENTS CREATE A FILE-SWAP WORK-AROUND
Two students at MIT have discovered a way to give their fellow attendees
free dorm-room access to a library of 3,500 CDs without breaking
copyright laws. Keith Winstein and Josh Mandel developed software that
routes the tunes over the school's cable TV network, making it an analog
transmission. Unlike digital copies swapped over the Internet, analog
transmissions are not exact copies, which makes the likelihood of
prosecution much more remote since most universities already have
licenses to "perform" analog music. "I think it's fascinating. As a
copyright lawyer, I think they've managed to thread the needle," says
Electronic Frontier Foundation legal counsel Fred Von Lohmann. "They've
basically managed to cut the record labels out of the equation
altogether." The students managed to circumvent the Recording Industry
Association of America completely by purchasing MP3 versions of the CDs
from Seattle-based Loudeye under license from the National Music
Publishers Association. "The students get access to a broad array of
music, and the copyright owners get paid. This is where we should all be
heading. I hope the record industry takes note and realizes this is a
whole lot more promising than suing people," says Von Lohmann. (AP 27
Oct 2003) For full article:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031027/D7UEHP801.html=20

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FYI…

-----Original Message-----

NewsScan Daily: = October 28, 2003

STUDENTS CREATE A FILE-SWAP = WORK-AROUND
Two students at MIT have discovered a way to give their fellow = attendees free dorm-room access to a library of 3,500 CDs without breaking copyright = laws. Keith Winstein and Josh Mandel developed software that routes the = tunes over the school's cable TV network, making it an analog transmission. = Unlike digital copies swapped over the Internet, analog transmissions are not = exact copies, which makes the likelihood of prosecution much more remote = since most universities already have licenses to "perform" analog = music. "I think it's fascinating. As a copyright lawyer, I think they've managed to thread the needle," says Electronic Frontier = Foundation legal counsel Fred Von Lohmann. "They've basically managed to cut the = record labels out of the equation altogether." The students managed to circumvent the Recording Industry Association of America completely by purchasing MP3 versions of the CDs from Seattle-based Loudeye under = license from the National Music Publishers Association. "The students get = access to a broad array of music, and the copyright owners get paid. This is = where we should all be heading. I hope the record industry takes note and realizes this is a whole lot = more promising than suing people," says Von Lohmann. (AP = 27 = Oct 2003) For full article: http://= apnews.excite.com/article/20031027/D7UEHP801.html