UMaine refuses to out downloading students

EMILY PARKHURST — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:45:00 GMT

Privacy
While the battle over file-sharing continues unabated on college campuses across the country, University of Maine officials have offered a new stance.

While the battle over file-sharing continues unabated on college campuses across the country, University of Maine officials have offered a new stance: they’re going to protect their own. Federal privacy laws, they say, prevent them from putting record-industry lawyers in touch with 27 students alleged to have illegally downloaded music.

As a result, the University of Maine System, comprising seven schools, has joined a small number of other universities who have stood up to the recording industry. Meanwhile, the majority of US schools — such as Ohio University (which is believed to have the largest number of illegal student downloaders) — have caved in to industry pressure, passing along letters from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to students accused of having pirated music.

In late March, UMaine notified students that they can pick up RIAA letters sent to the school, if they wish, from an office on campus. Yet the university has refused to tell the RIAA who the students are, citing provisions in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law limiting access to student records.

“FERPA prohibits us from giving out information about students that would link them to any identification numbers,” says John Diamond, spokesman for the UMaine System. “It is up to the students to decide whether to take advantage of the settlement option put forth by the RIAA in the letters,” he adds.

In those letters, students are directed to the Web site p2plawsuits, where they may settle their cases online. Though that settlement fee is unspecified, the RIAA claims it is “generally lower” than the roughly $3000 settlement demand that the association makes in court filings.

So far, the RIAA has both won (Elektra vs. Perez) and lost (Elektra vs. Santangelo) court cases taken up against alleged copyright infringers. And, given a recent Wall Street Journal report claiming CD sales are down by 20 percent in the first three months of this year, it seems likely the RIAA will continue to fight against online music sharing.

But is the treat of lawsuits an actual deterrent? According to a recent study published in the Journal of Political Economy, there were nearly 10 million simultaneous users on the major peer-to-peer (P2P) networks in 2006. Plus, about 60 million people have accessed P2P networks since their inception.

A rape victim speaks out

EMILY PARKHURST — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:53:04 GMT

Most women never talk about being raped. This is one woman’s story.
I am a 25-year-old freelance classical musician from Maine currently pursuing my MFA in Writing and trying to get the most from my twenties.

I am a 25-year-old freelance classical musician from Maine currently pursuing my MFA in Writing and trying to get the most from my twenties. That is what I tell people when they ask who I am.

I do not say I am a two-time rape survivor. Like so many survivors of sexual assault, I have been mostly silent about my attacks, speaking only to my close friends and family members, as well as professionals like my therapist who are equipped to handle the aftermath of my traumas. The first of my attacks was nearly nine years ago. The second was exactly a year ago this week.

What I have to say is about silence and the power of finding my voice. After I was attacked the first time, I was terrified, full of self-blame, humiliation, and confusion. I was raped by a man I considered a friend in the Midcoast house where I lived my first summer away from my family. Even though while he was attacking me I begged and pleaded with him to stop, I could not bring myself to call it rape. I was certain that I had given him permission by letting him kiss me. I was certain that the attack was my fault. I kept my rape a secret to protect myself, my own denial, and the people who cared about me. In doing so, I also protected my rapist.

My second attack, January 20, 2006, occurred first in an Old Port dance club, where I went to go dancing with a group of nearly fifteen friends. I was sober until a man I had never met before offered to buy me a drink. I believe now that the drink he gave me was laced with Rohypnol (see “Drugs To Watch Out For”). He then isolated me from my friends until the drugs took effect — only about ten minutes. I have no memory of the five hours after I took a few sips of that drink. He must have dragged me, nearly passed out, to his car and driven me to his basement apartment.

When I came to in a dark, unfamiliar room, I first noticed my hand was covered in blood and loose bandages. Later I would discover bruises on my back and a huge lump on my head. I had no memory of sustaining any injuries.