"This is a fight about money, not about morality"

Filed in archive Commentary , Education , People on September 4, 2007

The recording industry has been focusing its PR the past several months on co-opting schools in its fight against copyright infringement by college students. EFF Senior Staff Attorney Fred von Lohmann took time out to question RIAA's strategy in an editorial in the Washington Post called "Copyright Silliness on Campus".

Lohmann suggest licensing as a solution with the schools as an intermediary to collect fees and pay the major labels. It's a reasonable solution. Colleges already serve that role for similar services like Napster.

Lohmann writes "At its heart, this is a fight about money, not about morality. We should have the universities collect the cash, pay it to the entertainment industry and let the students do what they are going to do anyway. In exchange, the entertainment industry should call off the lawyers and lobbyists, leaving our nation's universities to focus on the real challenges facing America's next generation of leaders."