Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Muni-WiFi, the MPAA, and Illegal Downloads

Actually download - singular. There might be more to this story than meets the eye, but on the surface it's pretty scary. MPAA shuts down entire town's muni WiFi over a single download
The MPAA has successfully shut down an entire town's municipal WiFi because a single user was found to be downloading a copyrighted movie. Rather than being embarrassed by this gross example of collective punishment (a practice outlawed in the Geneva conventions) against Coshocton, OH, the MPAA's spokeslizard took the opportunity to cry poor (even though the studios are bringing in record box-office and aftermarket receipts).
Mike LaVigne, IT director, said the number of people who access the Internet using the connection varies widely, from perhaps a dozen people a day to 100 during busy times such as First Fridays and the Coshocton Canal Festival.

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Because it's a single address used by many people, it's difficult to tell who made the illegal download, although the county plans to investigate the matter.

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