Computer scientists at the University of Washington recently published a study that revealed that the procedures used by entertainment companies to identify copyright infringement are less than accurate. The study calls into question the validity of the flood of RIAA notices to universities asking them to hand over the names of students associated with IP addresses identified as illegally downloading copyrighted material.  The researchers originally intended to study the use of peer-to-peer networks, but in the early stages of their research they received nearly 200 notices accusing them of illegal file sharing. They decided to investigate, and promptly released the report, "Challenges and Directions for Monitoring P2P File Sharing Networks--or--Why My Printer Received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act Takedown Notice." The study outlined the two main methods used for detecting copyright infringement – direct and indirect – and found in both cases that users can be easily sabotaged or misidentified.

Read the study here
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