The Denisonian

Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: News

Students who use illegal downloading software on their personal computers, beware.

The recording and film industries are strengthening their anti-piracy efforts against college students.

This semester, Information Technology Services reported 117 allegations of copyright infringement.

Lisa Bazley, director of ITS, reports that 82 percent of these violations were for downloading music illegally.

Fifteen percent were for pirating film, and three percent were reported for illegally downloading software.

Colleges across the nation are prime targets for private watchdog organizations that patrol the Internet for piracy.

While Denison administrators are able to monitor bandwidth usage, outside companies like the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America are responsible for catching violators across the country.

According to the RIAA Web site, "more than half of the nation’s college students frequently download music and movies illegally from unlicensed [peer-to-peer file-sharing] networks.”

Library Director Scottie Cochrane said that RIAA and MPAA seek out college violators.

“Denison could be an easy target, because Denison is a fairly well endowed college,” she said.

Cochrane is Denison’s designated Digital Millennium Copyright Act officer.

The DCMA is a piece of legislation that protects the copyright of digital material, like music and film, which can be shared on the Internet.

This law mandates that every private institution choose an official that oversees copyright use, both digitally and in print.

When private organizations catch students illegally downloading material, they send Denison notices of violation.

Staff members in the ITS department are able to identify which student pirated material by matching the IP address to the personal computer where the violation took place.

Private production companies can prosecute students for simply having a file-sharing program like LimeWire on their personal computers.

Bazley said that Denison is legally bound to take action against violators.

“Under the law, we have to show due diligence to stop infringing activity. We have to pass those notices on to students,” she said.

Bazley also said that the organizations are almost completely accurate in their allegations.

When a student first receives a notice of violation, the letter informs him or her of the violation and asks that the behavior stop.

“We expect students’ behavior to change. These letters are very explicit in telling the students what will happen if they don’t cease the behavior,” Bazley said.

A second letter of violation informs the student that if he or she receives a third violation, the case will be taken to the Office of Community Rights and Standards.

After a third violation, the violator’s network privileges on his or her personal computer are suspended.

Bazley said that the RIAA can take legal action against student violators.

“If the RIAA takes a student to court, DU would get a subpoena to divulge the names of students. Otherwise we will not do this. Students need to be aware that if a case is brought against them, we will have to comply,” she said.

Assistant Dean of Students Greg Phlegar said that he believes students must acknowledge that piracy is wrong.

“We live in a pretty technical world, and my perception is that students don’t see that what they’re doing is illegal,” he said.
Cochrane said she believes piracy is equivalent to any other type of stealing.

“I think it is fair that people are compensated for their work,” she said. “If there is a cooperative effort and musicians are making their material available for free online then that is fair, otherwise it is not appropriate to steal somebody else’s intellectual property.”

Other college campuses around the area have been targeted as well.

During the 2006-2007 school year, the RIAA sent more than 1,200 notices of violation to students at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, as reported in their Media Relations’ online news source, Outlook.

As punishment for these actions, the OU administration shut off network access for personal computers in residence halls where large volumes of downloading took place.

Despite attempts of the administration to educate students about the issues with illegal downloads, some students do not find their actions to be wrong.

A Denison student who received a first violation this semester stated she did not think her actions were wrong.

“I don’t think it’s any of the school’s concern about what we are doing on the Internet. We have no other choice but to use its network,” said a freshman female, who asked to remain anonymous.

Another anonymous junior, who said she has not illegally downloaded material on campus, said that she felt that the severity of the action depends on what a student downloads.

“With everything being so expensive, one song isn’t a problem,” she said. “Downloading a lot of stuff is wrong,” she said.

One anonymous junior added that she felt as though college students who download material for personal use should not have action taken against them.

“If you’re not making a profit on it, then it’s not a big deal,” she said.

Bazley encouraged students to use the Help Desk Student Support Annex to rid their personal computers of file-sharing programs.

She said that this new program helps students with all kinds of personal computer issues, including deleting file-sharing software.

Bazley said that she believed conduct has improved on campus, but she hopes that students understand the illegality of copyright infringement.

“Whether its digital or paper format, it’s stealing,” she said.

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