News > September 25, 2003

By Ally Diljohn

Old Gold and Black Reporter

Although no students at the university were named in a recent lawsuit regarding file-sharing services on the Internet, some have been penalized for illegally downloading music.

This month the Recording Industry Association of America sued 261 defendants accused of illegal Internet file-sharing. The lawsuit is only the most recent instance of a crackdown by the music industry.

According to Jay Dominick, assistant vice president of Information Systems, “file sharing is not an illegal or objectionable activity by itself.” Problems arise when people participate in sharing copyright-protected material.

The university receives at least one notification each week regarding students who violate copyright laws by sharing copyrighted files, Dominick said. This notice comes from copyright holders through a process outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Upon notification, university officials are required to investigate the claim.

“When we are properly notified, we disconnect the (offending student’s) computer and call the owner to have them bring the laptop to the Help Desk for file removal,” Dominick said.

Even if legal action is not taken, students are often referred to the judicial system. According to Ricardo Hall, assistant dean and judicial officer, students are given an administrative hearing for Rule 20 violations, as listed in the student handbook.

Copyright violations are addressed on a case-by-case basis according to the honor code.

“A typical sanction might be a fine and/or warning,” Hall said.

Repeat offenders may lose computing privileges.

“Our office is most concerned that students are educated on the proper and legal uses of file sharing software,” Hall said.

So far this year, administrators have not heard any cases regarding Rule 20 violations. During the 2002-2003 school year, eight students had administrative hearings for Rule 20 violations; nine cases were heard during the previous year.

Despite the illegality of file-sharing, many students on campus and around the country continue to acquire music from file sharing services such as Kazaa and Blubster.

According to the “Courthouse Rock” article in the Sept. 22 issue of Newsweek, by turning off the sharing aspect of file-sharing services, users “probably” will not get caught.

Students around campus had different feelings about file-sharing.

“I used to download until more people starting getting caught,” sophomore Brandi Rhoads, a member of the student technology committee, said. 

Some students provided explanations for why they download files.

“I never really think about it as stealing,” sophomore Nikki Soriano said. “It just seems different with online music files because it’s so easy.”

Sophomore Katie Chinlund gave a pragmatic rationale for file-sharing.

“I do it because not all of the songs on a CD are good or are what I want,” she said.  “Downloading is the only way to get the songs you want without spending money for the entire CD.”

Copyright laws give the authors of material the right to control the reproduction and the distribution of their work, Dominick said.

By this definition file-sharing is illegal, though most students do not consider it immoral.

According to Newsweek , the recording industry has lost at least $700 million in revenue to file-sharing.

In light of the RIAA lawsuit and other efforts to stop file-sharing, software designers for file-sharing systems have begun creating new software to prevent users from getting caught. 

According to “Crackdown May Send Music Traders into Software Underground” in the Sept. 15 New York Times, measures are being taken to make file-sharing more anonymous.