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Why Is Harvard Escaping the RIAA’s Wrath?

Industry group may be wary of angry law professors

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 27, 2007 12:00 PM CST
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(Newser) – The RIAA has sent out 4,157 prelitigation settlement letters to a total of 160 schools this year, but Harvard’s mailboxes have remained noticeably empty. And it’s not for a lack of potentially illegal music downloading. More likely, Ars Technica speculates, the recording industry is afraid of two Harvard Law professors who are publicly hostile toward the anti-file-sharing crusade.

Charles Nesson and John Palfrey accuse the RIAA of acting like a “bully facing someone much weaker” and have preemptively said the school shouldn’t “be carrying the industry’s water.” Although an RIAA spokesman says that “just because a school has not received letters does not imply that it will not receive letters in the future,” it’s likely that antagonizing the institution would provoke the legal heavyweights.

Harvard University campus. Of the many Ivy League schools contacted by the RIAA for potential litigation, Harvard was noticeably absent.
Harvard University campus. Of the many Ivy League schools contacted by the RIAA for potential litigation, Harvard was noticeably absent.   (Shutterstock.com)
Harvard Law student Brandon Douglass of Baltimore, Md., left, is one of the students to join Harvard Law Prof. Charles Nesson, right, at the first meeting of the Harvard Law School poker society Friday, Oct. 19, 2007, in Cambridge, Mass. Nesson, 68, wants governments to relax restrictions on poker players....
Harvard Law student Brandon Douglass of Baltimore, Md., left, is one of the students to join Harvard Law Prof. Charles Nesson, right, at the first meeting of the Harvard Law School poker society Friday,...   (Associated Press)
It's a constantly evolving campaign, and just because a school has not received letters does not imply that it will not receive letters in the future, said an RIAA spokesman, regarding Harvard's apparent pass.
"It's a constantly evolving campaign, and just because a school has not received letters does not imply that it will not receive letters in the future," said an RIAA spokesman, regarding Harvard's apparent...   (Getty Images)
Harvard University campus. Of the many Ivy League schools contacted by the RIAA for potential litigation, Harvard was noticeably absent.
Harvard University campus. Of the many Ivy League schools contacted by the RIAA for potential litigation, Harvard was noticeably absent.   (Getty Images)
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