Digital Entertainment on Campus: Old Lawsuits and New Business Models

Earlier this year, in what Casey Green called its "spring offensive," the Recording Industry Association of America stepped up its program of bringing infringement claims against thousands of on- and off-campus users of peer-to-peer file-sharing systems. At the same time, the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held a "Piracy on University Networks" hearing, where one representative warned "the hammer is coming." Meanwhile, forward-looking companies were quietly exploring new business models for distributing entertainment in digital form. Whether based on advertising and ISP licenses, these models take as a given the ubiquity of easy transmission and storage of digital entertainment, both to and among consumers. In this session, we'll explore how the old models are grudgingly giving way to the new, and the implications of this transition for colleges and universities.