University DMCA Policies

Yesterday, Ray Beckerman, one of the attorneys behind the Recording Industry vs. the People, posted the new Stanford DMCA policy. The new policy has been criticized for assuming the RIAA is correct: following a primary DCMA take-down notice, Stanford will send an email to the allegedly offending student which must be answered within 48 hours to avoid paying a $100 network reconnection fee. Subsequent notices will result in automatic disconnection from the Stanford network and fines of $1,000.

After naming the supposed 25 top piracy schools and unleashing a storm of pre-litigation letters, the RIAA has received both acquiescence and backlash. The University of Nebraska has decided to bill the RIAA for the effort of tracking down supposedly infringing material. This is the job which Stanford alleges takes 3 employees; it just seems Stanford disagrees over who to charge. Ohio University has taken the most drastic action and banned all peer-to-peer networks on campus.

Needless to say, this should be particularly worrying for Free Culture members. Does your school have an amenable DMCA policy? Have you run into any particularly draconian ones?

[Cross posted on Free Culture Blog]