Internet2 under attack from RIAA

Internet2 is a high-speed version of the Internet available at research institutions such as the university I work at. The RIAA claims this high-end network is rife with file-sharing going on by students.

“We cannot let this high-speed network become a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules don’t apply,” said Cary Sherman, president of the recording association.

The WSJ is running an AP article (subscription req’d) with all the gory details. Update: Story freely available via CBS News.

Apparently the RIAA will be launching lawsuits against 405 students at 18 colleges. A choice quote from the article:

The RIAA declined to explain how it could detect piracy over Internet2 except to say it acted lawfully. Internet2’s corporate members include Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., a leading music label. Even Internet2 officials said they were unaware how the entertainment companies traced the purportedly illegal activity on their network.

The RIAA said the 18 schools include Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Drexel University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Princeton University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of California-Berkeley, University of California-San Diego, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Southern California.

Watch out, folks. It’s hairy out there.