Academy seizes computers from nearly 100 mids (Drudge Talking About This Next)

Annapolis Capitol Gazzette ^ | JESSICA R. TOWHEY, Staff Writer

[Doctor Raoul]

Academy seizes computers from nearly 100 mids
By JESSICA R. TOWHEY, Staff Writer

Officials at the Naval Academy have seized nearly 100 midshipmen's computers that allegedly contained illegally downloaded music and movies, sources said.

The raid occurred Thursday while students were in class, and a source familiar with the investigation said the computers were being held by the administration.

Cmdr. Bill Spann, academy spokesman, confirmed that an investigation into what material is on the computers is under way, but declined further comment.

He did say punishment for illegally possessing copyrighted material ranges from a court-martial to loss of leave and other restrictions.

Computers are given to each midshipman upon entering the academy. During their four years at the school, mids pay back the value of the computers through deductions from their monthly paychecks.

Amanda Collins, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said yesterday that the Naval Academy was among the colleges and universities around the country that were sent two letters from entertainment industry and educational associations asking them to address Internet piracy and establish policies against it.

An Oct. 3 letter signed by four entertainment-based lobbying associations spelled out that Internet copyright infringement violates federal copyright laws.

"`Theft' is a harsh word, but that it is, pure and simple," the letter stated. "... It is no different from walking into the campus bookstore and in a clandestine manner walking out with a textbook without paying for it."

The recording industry estimates that more than 2.6 billion music files are downloaded illegally each month, usually through unlicensed services.

CD sales fell more than 5 percent in 2001 and dipped another 1 percent in the first half of this year, according to the RIAA.

Some of the recording industry's biggest stars, such as Madonna, Mick Jagger and Eminem, have joined coalitions to combat the wholesale theft of music. The industry claims this threatens the livelihood of everyone from artists, songwriters and manufacturers to sound engineers and record-store owners and clerks.

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towhey@capitalgazette.com

[freebilly]

punishment for illegally possessing copyrighted material ranges from a court-martial to loss of leave and other restrictions.

But it's okay to give the Chinese missile and satellite technology.....

[DB]

"CD sales fell more than 5 percent in 2001 and dipped another 1 percent in the first half of this year, according to the RIAA."

I'm sure it couldn't possibly have anything to do with really bad new "music" and around $18 a CD.

Brand new albums in the 70's were around $3 to $4....

[Doctor Raoul]

How big of an erection did Hillary Rosen get when she saw she could "get" a service academy?

[TheLion]

I am an academy grad and know that you should want these people to have higher standards than the average joe. If they were advised and warned....they got no leg to stand on. Theft is theft. We need the rules followed by the people who will certainly be in charge someday, otherwise they will all be Bill Clinton clones.

DB is certainly right about todays music. Most people probably allready have all the classics, great rock albums, etc. There isn't much new being written that is worth a damn.

[KevinDavis]

I happen to agree with you. Rules are rules.

[TheLion]

"Rules are rules"....unless you are a Democrat. lol

[struwwelpeter]

So, middies all have their own computers. That may explain all of the strange documents I've been coming across on KaZaA.

[A CA Guy]

Why pick on our service men?

If it is in their computers, delete it and the program that runs it and tell them NOT to do that again.

That should be all that is done and then it should be over.

[lizma]

If they were advised and warned....they got no leg to stand on.

I agree. What's with these Annapolis kids? Every couple years they seems to be involved in some kind of brew-ha-ha.

[TheLion]

We probably need a few more details to pass the right judgement on this situation. The administration is obviously looking for something....will they find it?

[ikka]

Doc, help me out here. Essentially, the machines were purchased by the midshipmen (the money to pay for it was taken out of their paychecks).

What does the UCMJ have to say about your superior officer going through your personal effects? Say I have a personal journal and I write in it, "my superior officer is an idiot". Can he inspect and read my personal journal at any time, without my permission and without a warrant?

[quietolong]

And they charge $15-20 for CD with music from the 70s, 60s, 50s,...
What a rip off.

[freebilly]

I think this search for copyrighted material is a smokescreen. With national security currently at stake the Naval Academy is making sure its midshipmen are clean. My guess is that they're looking for links to Al-Qaeda (tinfoil on!).

To violate civil liberties over Napster is the height of foolishness....

[Glenn]

they got no leg to stand on.

Surprising grammar for an academy grad. I would have thought there'd be a higher standard.

[DB]

The tricky part is determining that it is in fact theft. The presence of music files on your machine is not in itself proof of a "crime". If they purchased the CD and ripped to their computer that is not theft, period. It is no different than making a cassette tape from their own CD for their own use. There are MANY free music files on the Web that are not copyright violations to have a copy of. The people that search these machines are going to have to do a lot of research on each individual case to determine what actual copyright violations there are.

If people want to take this to the n'th degree I think one would be very hard pressed to find a single computer user that doesn't have some form of copyright violation on their machine. How many people have some "barrowed" program(s) for this or that "that is rarely used" or a picture that was funny that was either Emailed to them or they grabbed from a FR posting?

[DB]

It would even be more fun to take their superior officers computers without warning and see what was on them...

If strict copyright violation is the rule, I'd bet good money not one officer would survive.

And then what about all that private Email… And can one say porn?

Ya, that would be fun…

One big can of worms that one should give serious thought to before proceeding.

[DB]

If I had graduated from MIT my grammar and spelling would still suck... The ideas expressed are far, far more important than the presentation. Just ask GWB ;-)

[Kozak]

"I happen to agree with you. Rules are rules.

That was the defense used by German officers at the Nuremberg trials. I hope the academy is trying to teach a little more then that.