So you move into the dorms and one of the first things you get is your little Michigan Internet Access kit. The University is providing you with free high-speed internet? Hot damn! And you thought it was a mistake to turn down MIT? Anyways, it's not the endless bounty of generosity it sound's like. The kit they give you is essentially a packet of University developed spyware, so they can monitor your every online move and wait to block, ban or sue you for any misdeeds.

Back in the golden days of my freshman year, we had a program called myTunes, which was created by God. Since the computers were all off of the same network in Markley, everyone's iTunes could be compiled and made available for download by anyone else in the dorm. You could download a song in three seconds, a CD in forty-five, someone's entire music library in twenty minutes. It was heaven. Then the crackdown began.

If you download music using the University's internet, you can bet your ass that they will sell you out to RIAA before you can say "Limewire." I used to think that the RIAA was all bark and no bite, then my friend and her roomate got a call from a lawyer. Long story short they had to pay $4,000 each in settlement money for downloading about 100 songs. The RIAA may be a bunch of douchebags, but they're douchbags with lawyers.

Incidentally, you can also get kicked off the internet for downloading movies, TV shows, porn, free music, pay music, books and who knows, probably reading this blog.