Harvard law - universities have legal ground to ignore RIAA

According to a Harvard Law article (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/filter?wid=379&func=viewSubmission&sid=2802) analyzing the RIAA's grip on Universities, their assessment is that the RIAA shouldn't be able to use the university to violate student privacy.

"It is the university's duty to follow its own mission and not that of a private business trying to protect sources of revenue. "

Universities are not obligated nor do they have an value-based motivation to assist the RIAA in providing student digital music related data. The legal opinion further says:

"The university strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities. The university has no legal obligation to deliver the RIAA's messages. It should do so only if it believes that's consonant with the university's mission. "

"We believe it is not. "

When universities go to so much trouble to rid themselves of any corporate or commercial interests, why would they so easily allow the RIAA (which is not a governmental organization) to run its aggressive anti-consumer campaign? This is not a biased and overly negative opinion towards the RIAA as the authors go on to state:

"The university does have an obligation to teach our students to be good citizens. Good citizens should be accountable for their actions. If our students are breaking the law, they should pay the price. That’s not the issue here. The RIAA has already sued well over 10,000 people, including many students, directly... The issue is that the university should not be carrying the industry’s water in bringing lawsuits. "

They are on solid legal ground here and this is one of the most compelling arguments I've heard on educational institutions standing up for their rights. If only more universities saw it so clearly.