Duke University now wants proof of infringement before forwarding an RIAA notice, according to the Office of Student Affairs. That replaces an earlier practice of simply passing pre-litigation notices through to students, without deeper examination. "What we're saying is that in order for us to pass on a settlement letter to a student, we're going to start requiring evidence that someone actually downloaded from that student," vice president for Student Affairs Larry Moneta told Duke newspaper The Chronicle.
The move presents a speedbump for the major label trade group, though symbolically, it signals another episode of resistance by a major university. It could also signal the beginning of greater levels of pushback, based on technical definitions of what actually constitutes infringement.
Outside of academia, the RIAA is now defending an infringement methodology that equates "making available" with illegal transfer. An upcoming retrial focuses on whether induced downloads through RIAA partner MediaSentry are a veritable substitute for actual downloads from a third party, a transaction that is far more difficult to prove.
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