UAA slows campus Web speed to fight illegal downloads

Anchorage Daily News ^ | December 2nd, 2011 08 | MARY PEMBERTON

[skeptoid]

The groan is almost audible coming from dormitory rooms at UAA.

The university is intentionally slowing the speed of Internet connections in all on- campus dorm rooms to prevent students from infringing on copyrights when downloading movies, music and videos, a move first reported by UAA's student newspaper, The Northern Light.

[skeptoid]

. . . . Whitney has been swamped by complaints from the entertainment industry about the illegal downloads, reaching 878 in 2010. The complaints are on pace to set a record this year. He said over 95 percent of the complaints were being generated by illegal downloads being conducted in on-campus residence halls.

. . .

They are slowing from 10mbps to 2mbps.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

We need to outlaw the Interwebs because it makes it difficult for obsolete business models to survive.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Just means that illegal downloads will be like a ronco chuicken rotisserie; Just set it and forget it!

You’ll see an increase in bandwidth use in the overnight hours while the kids are sleeping (one off!)

[Jack Hydrazine]

Time to crank it back even further to dial up speeds like 56k or 14.4k! Maybe 110 or 300 baud will teach them!

[Berlin_Freeper]

I got more dl’s than I know what to do with. :)

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

If you cannot enforce a law on infringement without infringing on everyone, then the law is no longer valid.

RIP DMCA

[BigSkyFreeper]

Just means that illegal downloads will be like a ronco chuicken rotisserie; Just set it and forget it!

ROFL!

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

When downloading material is as easy as breathing the air, a law making it allegedly illegal is like making it illegal to breathe “someone else’s” air.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I’m surprised the IT guys don’t employ internet filtering or even QOS traffic shaping based on protocol and portnumbers. So for example, anyone using Bittorrent would have reduced speeds while anyone surfing the net, watching Youtube, playing online games, etc. wouldn’t notice any reduction in speed.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

I remember at 56k it took 6 hours to download an album in 2001.
Was not impractical then. Inconvenient but not impractical now.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

At the beginning of the recording industry the means of production and distribution were expensive. Recording studios invested a lot of money, and got a return on their investment.

Now that anybody with a PC and Cakewalk can produce the same quality product and distribute it for free, that business model no longer applies.

The money isn't going to the artists, anyway. It goes to the RIAA and big corporations.

[samtheman]

Is that kind of like changing out all your pipes to a smaller diameter?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

At the beginning of the recording industry the means of production and distribution were expensive. Recording studios invested a lot of money, and got a return on their investment.

Now that anybody with a PC and Cakewalk can produce the same quality product and distribute it for free, that business model no longer applies.

The money isn't going to the artists, anyway. It goes to the RIAA and big corporations.

[BigSkyFreeper]

According to another article, this is more about downloading movies illegally than it is about music:

 

UAA's Internet pirates love their "Harry Potter"

That according to a sampling of the movies, music and video games that copyright holders reported stolen from Internet addresses at the Anchorage campus. Of about 30 recent cases of illegal downloads, six were for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two," according to the University of Alaska. Among the other illegal downloads: reported at UAA:

• "The Adjustment Bureau"

• "Conan the Barbarian"

• "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (video game)

• "Kung Fu Panda 2"

• "Paranormal Activity 2"

• "Water for Elephants"

• "Megamind"

• "Rio"

• "Big Sean: Finally Famous" (album)

• "Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown"

Copyright holders reported 75 illegal downloads in November at the UAA campus and another 35 at the UAF campus.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/12/01/2198477/uaa-slows-down-internet-to-fight.html#ixzz1fPOjhEGU

[sergeantdave]

Students can easily get around this by going to WalMart and buying CDs and DVDs.

[OldMissileer]

Last year I bought a music CD off of Amazon.com. When it arrived it was burned on a Lightscribe disc so I sent a message to the company about it being a copy.

It turned out the “company” was the actual artist and he mailed me a signed CD cover.

[OldMissileer]

Last year I bought a music CD off of Amazon.com. When it arrived it was burned on a Lightscribe disc so I sent a message to the company about it being a copy.

It turned out the “company” was the actual artist and he mailed me a signed CD cover.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Or buying a subscription to Netflix or Amazon or Blockbuster. Each site has unlimited streaming.

[Moose4]

Run it overnight then. I’ve downloaded 20 GB beta versions of the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO a couple of times the past few months overnight, no problem, and I don’t even get 2 Mbps out of my cable connect at home.

This will do nothing but slightly inconvenience the students. It won’t put much of a dent in their downloading.

}:-)4

[Ken H]

I pay $8/mo for Netflix streaming video and $10/mo for Rhapsody. I consider the price very reasonable.