Porn and pirate movie club in Oz colleges sparks outrage
By ANISunday, January 17, 2010
SYDNEY - A secret computer network set up by students at Sydney University’s elite residential colleges for circulating pornography, pirated movies and music has sparked outrage among officials.
The “peer to peer” file-sharing network allows students to illegally download thousands of hours of X-rated material, movies, music and TV shows directly from one another.
“You can get pretty much any TV show or movie you want. Yeah, there’s porn on there but I wouldn’t know anything about it. I don’t look at that,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted former student Sancta Sophia College Jess Eicher as saying.
The university was unable to take disciplinary action since St Paul’s and other colleges remained outside its jurisdiction, the paper said.
A spokesman for Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence revealed a network was closed minus disciplinary procedures.
He said: “The particular network, which was not hosted on the university network, but on a student’s individual computer, has been identified and shut down.”
Neil Gane, executive director of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, pointed out that the network could warrant criminal investigation for breach of copyright laws.
He said: “It’s not a victimless crime. It’s a crime that is hurting the 50,000 Australians who work in the film and television industry.” (ANI)
