Colleges try to discourage students' illegal music downloading
By MALCOLM VENABLE, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 17, 2005
Used to be that college awareness programs focused on a single subject - s*x. That was before iPods and PSPs and laptops. Now, schools are trying to make sure students resist the temptation of illegal downloading.
Their message is still the same: Don't do it, or, if you do, be ready to suffer the consequences.
"We run an awareness program, said Courtney Carpenter, associate provost for information technology at The College of William and Mary. The school was recently named the "Hottest Small State School" by Newsweek; last year 100 percent of incoming freshmen toted a laptop. Its awareness campaign includes an electronic newsletter. "There's no excuse for a student saying they didn't know they're not supposed to do this anymore," he said.
Yet many do it anyway. A recent survey of more than 1,000 college and university students by the Business Software Alliance said that more than half think downloading or swapping digital copyrighted files, such as music and movies, without paying for them is OK.
Shelly Jones, a freshman at Old Dominion University, got the “pirating is bad” message during orientation this fall. Even so, she tried to download from sites like KaZaa and LimeWire within days of unpacking in her dorm room. The software was blocked.
She knows it’s illegal but looks at it like this: “I’m not going to buy a CD when I knew I could download it for free.”
That attitude has led record companies to pursue people like Jones and the colleges they attend and to threaten lawsuits. This spring, for example, the Recording Industry of America filed suit against students at 33 colleges, claiming illegal file sharing.
“I don’t think they should do that,” said Jones. “They have 10 times as much money as I do. If you don’t want people downloading, make CDs cheaper.”
As a response to students like Jones, colleges are looking for ways to stem peer-to-peer downloading. Not only because of the legal issues, but because file swapping can clog schools’ networks and quickly infect them with viruses.
Colleges are doing a better job at informing and warning students about illegal downloading, according to a 2004 report from the Campus Computing Project. The project conducts an annual survey to see how colleges use information technology. In its last report, it said 76 percent of the colleges participating in the survey put “appropriate use” policies in place, up from 66 percent in 2003.
At Norfolk State University, the “appropriate use” policy bans peer-to-peer file sharing.
“We do block when it comes to that type of downloading,” said Andrea Di Fabio, information security officer for the school. “That prevents students from getting sued and the university sued by the agency.”
Students know about the ban on illegal downloading through an awareness program, he said, as well as a posting on the school Web site. The program will take place sometime this year, he said.
So if tech ed is the new s*x ed, then school-sponsored downloading is the new equivalent of free c*ndoms. Just like prophylactics, free downloading is something students are beginning to expect, and some colleges have begun to dispense. Penn State and American University, for example, offer Napster for free.
“Years ago there was initial resistance, where people thought it didn’t belong in dorm rooms,” said Josh Weiner, a spokesperson for the Ruckus digital music service that offers music and movies to college students. “Soon people realized the cultural benefits, and it’s a nice break from studying. Now it’s offered in a more convenient and lawsuit-free way.”
Hampton University recently signed on to Ruckus. The school, recognized as one of Yahoo’s Most Wired Campuses in 2000 and the country’s sixth Most Connected College by Forbes.com in 2003, figured downloading into students’ dorm expenses. For an additional $40 a semester – charged whether students ask for it or not – students have access to a library of more than 700,000 songs, hit movies, social-networking applications and even on-demand TV shows.
“This was a program brought to students as a result of lots of dialogue about possible solutions,” said Dr. Debra Saunders White, associate provost for technology. She said the school rolled out the media service because students asked for it. Hampton has always been diligent about illegal downloading, she said. The university immediately suspends Internet privileges of illegal downloaders, then subjects them to a hearing with the dean. “We didn’t take it lightly to begin with.”
With Ruckus, the school can be almost certain that its networks will remain virus-free from music downloads while students get an additional perk of dorm living.
The only catch: Ruckus isn’t compatible with the iPod, the device largely synonymous with the boom in downloading. Students need different, less popular PC-friendly devices such as the iRiver to play music on the go. Also, burning Ruckus music to CDs is almost impossible. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in its Sept . 2 issue that American University actually dumped Ruckus for Napster after students complained that Ruckus had dated movies and tricky software. Reactions at Hampton, where music is so vital to students’ enjoyment that a disc jockey sometimes spins in the student lounge, seemed mixed on Ruckus.
“If I was on campus, I would be outraged,” said Mark Jackson, a 19-year-old junior who lives off-campus and does not pay for Ruckus. “It’s automatically thrown in – that and it’s not available off-campus are the issues that a lot of people have with it. Besides, you’re purchasing streams. Most people would rather just use iTunes.”
Charlitta Fletcher, a senior, appreciated Ruckus’ customer service. “If they don’t have something you want, you just e-mail them, and they’ll get it to you. Everybody wants the ability to download. At least you know it’s legal.”
“I was excited about it until I heard you couldn’t burn CDs,” added Carlynn Pearson, a 19-year-old sophomore. The California transplant was dismayed to learn Ruckus couldn’t work with her iTunes. “That’s another downer.”
But Pearson said downloading is an incentive for a student.
As more schools go beyond just telling students not to steal music, downloading packages may soon be a given amenity, like a gym or a student center. Norfolk State is considering signing on to Ruckus, too.
“Schools are always trying to one-up each other,” said Carpenter. “As soon as one does it, we all have to do it. If it takes off, we’re going to look into it just to keep up with the Joneses.”
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Sunday, October 23rd 2005 at 1:51PM
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