Acroplex
11-26-2002, 02:27 AM
Bootleg probe targets cadet computers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) --Officials at the U.S. Naval Academy have seized the computers of nearly 100 students in a search for bootlegged music and movies, an Academy official confirmed Monday.
Cadets could face court martial or expulsion if investigators find digital songs or other copyrighted material on their hard drives.
Naval Academy administrators seized the desktop computers last Thursday while students were in class, newspapers in Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland, reported.
An academy spokeswoman confirmed that the reports were accurate but declined further comment.
Record labels fight back
Record labels and movie studios worry that the wild popularity of programs like Kazaa and Morpheus that allow users to download songs and other material from the Internet for free is cutting into their sales.
Entertainment groups sent a letter to thousands of colleges and universities last month asking them to crack down on the use of such programs on their internal high-speed networks.
The letter asked administrators to tell students that the activity was illegal and punish violators.
"We appreciate institutions who take intellectual property theft seriously," said a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America. "However, we do not dictate what their enforcement policies should be, and, in this particular instance, we do not know the facts of the case."
Facing the music
Academy spokesman Cmdr. Bill Spann told the Baltimore Sun that students found to have improperly downloaded copyrighted material could face penalties from a loss of liberty to court martial and expulsion.
Students at the Annapolis academy receive a computer when they enter school and pay it off gradually over their four years.
The recording industry has also taken the software makers to court and asked the U.S. Justice Department and individual Internet providers to help enforce copyright laws.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/11/25/music.navy.reut/index.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) --Officials at the U.S. Naval Academy have seized the computers of nearly 100 students in a search for bootlegged music and movies, an Academy official confirmed Monday.
Cadets could face court martial or expulsion if investigators find digital songs or other copyrighted material on their hard drives.
Naval Academy administrators seized the desktop computers last Thursday while students were in class, newspapers in Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland, reported.
An academy spokeswoman confirmed that the reports were accurate but declined further comment.
Record labels fight back
Record labels and movie studios worry that the wild popularity of programs like Kazaa and Morpheus that allow users to download songs and other material from the Internet for free is cutting into their sales.
Entertainment groups sent a letter to thousands of colleges and universities last month asking them to crack down on the use of such programs on their internal high-speed networks.
The letter asked administrators to tell students that the activity was illegal and punish violators.
"We appreciate institutions who take intellectual property theft seriously," said a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America. "However, we do not dictate what their enforcement policies should be, and, in this particular instance, we do not know the facts of the case."
Facing the music
Academy spokesman Cmdr. Bill Spann told the Baltimore Sun that students found to have improperly downloaded copyrighted material could face penalties from a loss of liberty to court martial and expulsion.
Students at the Annapolis academy receive a computer when they enter school and pay it off gradually over their four years.
The recording industry has also taken the software makers to court and asked the U.S. Justice Department and individual Internet providers to help enforce copyright laws.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/11/25/music.navy.reut/index.html