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 Copyrightings]

As we head into the last few days before Christmas and Hannukah (a.k.a. “the busiest shopping days of the year”), just a reminder: If you’re looking for any last many gifts, be sure to consult our RIAA-Free Gift Guides before you make any music purchases. Vote with your dollar, and give a gift you can feel good about.

Best fishes,
Gavin

Just in time for the holidays, FC.o members have started compiling gift guides of RIAA-free CDs. This is a great way to get some holiday gift ideas, as well as to support those who oppose the way that the Recording Industry Association of America does business.

A few examples of these lists are:
Gavin’s list (indie pop/rock, electronic) PDF
Karen’s list (indie, blues, random)
Dan’s list (indie)

Here are Gavin’s instructions on making and submitting an RIAA-free CD Holiday Gift Guide

So, if you want to make a list, here’s what to do:

1. Make a list of 10 non-RIAA CDs (check riaaradar.com and the members list on riaa.com — neither list is perfect because the RIAA lies, go figure.)
2. You can have a theme for your list, or not — it’s up to you.
3. Try not to have more than 1 CD by the same band or more than 2 CDs from the same label.
4. Don’t use a CD that somebody else has used.
5. These should be CDs you could reasonably find in a record store or some place like amazon.com.

Not sure where to start? There are some lists on riaaradar.com that might give you some ideas (poke around). “Major” labels that are non-RIAA include Sub Pop, Matador, Merge, and Kill Rock Stars. Two bands I thought about using in my list, but didn’t, are Bloc Party and Mates of State — so there’s 2 ideas right there.

Note that we are listing CDs, not bands — bands often switch labels, sometimes jumping to RIAA members. Occasionally the same CD will be re-released by a RIAA member; make sure you list the non-RIAA release.

Your list should include:
* 10 CDs with artist and title, and if possible, year and label
* a brief description of each CD or why you like it. (these can be wordier than mine)
* your name, age, school (if applicable), and a list of 3 likes OR 3 dislikes — serious or cute
* a 150×150 px photo of you. I can crop and resize if necessary, but if you want it look the way you want, you better do it yourself! jpg preferred, send a link or as attachment

In order to submit a list, email it to freedom@freeculture.org. More information can also be found at freeculture.org/riaafree/.