Students Pursue Network Creator to Recoup RIAA Settlement
The creator of the defunct i2hub file-sharing network is in trouble with students who are in trouble with the RIAA for sharing copyrighted music on the network, designed to exploit a juiced Internet2 network linking universities. U. of Mass.-Amherst student Wayne Chang, now on academic leave, set up the network and touted it on campus and online. Last spring, hundreds of UMass students who used the network were slammed with content industry lawsuits (WID April 12 p1). Months later, after a cease-and-desist order, Chang shut down i2hub (WID Nov 23 p9).
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In a Dec. 16 letter, UMass Student Legal Services Office demanded Chang pay the 42 sued students’ proposed settlement costs -- about $157,500. The letter alleged i2hub engaged in unfair or deceptive practices as defined by the Mass. Consumer Protection Act, and “deceived users into believing that media file sharing via i2hub was legal.” Another violation: Making users make a GB of files available for sharing, “turning users of its product into unknowing infringers,” the letter said.
Chang’s pitch for i2hub hinted it had UMass approval, the office said. “Its advertising constantly emphasized the fact that it was ‘used by over 100,000 students’ and was in fact started at UMASS,” the letter said: “These advertisements were strategically placed on campus busses so as to imply a connection between this service and the University.” The i2hub site gave statistics on the number of users nationwide and current network volume, and at UMass promotional events, “students were given free t- shirts and other gifts for enrolling in the service.”
The sharing requirement ensured students would face legal trouble, the letter said: “While i2hub did not require this information to be in the form of music or movies, it was practically a foregone conclusion” that music and video, “all copyrighted material,” would be designated for sharing, given the 18-25 target demographic.
Under Mass. law, i2hub had only to imply that “all of its operations were legal, despite the fact that it enabled illegal copyright infringement,” the letter said, citing the Grokster decision. The legal office said it will sue Chang “for the actual amount of damages” if Chang doesn’t settle with the students for the “reasonable amount” of $157,500.
Chang’s attorney, Charles Baker, lampooned the office’s claims in a letter sent Mon. Chang’s creation never claimed endorsement by UMass, and the bus ads said nothing about the university’s imprimatur, he said: “If that were the case, then any advertising on any University bus would arguably be ‘endorsed’ by UMass, from the local pizza restaurant to wireless providers.” Baker said i2hub placed a notice on a Web page cited by the legal office that told users they had to comply with copyright laws. The sharing mandate was in place “for a very short period of time,” and in any case, students, not i2hub, decided what they would share, he added.
Baker disputed the relevance of the office’s Grokster citation, citing his status representing Morpheus in the case. The i2hub software never was declared illegal and qualifies for Sony Betamax protection, he said. No “true” P2P firm has been found liable for secondary infringement, Baker said.
Students who traded copyrighted files over i2hub have no excuse for their behavior, Baker said, citing publicity about the pre-reform Napster and RIAA’s barrage of suits against downloaders. In i2hub’s end user license agreement, users agreed they wouldn’t use the software for infringement, he added.