IU will punish for illegal downloads

The Recording Industry Artists of America and the Motion Picture Association of America are turning up the heat on colleges and universities nationwide, encouraging administrators to expel or arrest students who illegally download music and movies from the Internet. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said IU will aggressively punish students who illegally use peer-to-peer programs like Kazaa. Some investigations into students are already underway, he said.\nIU does not police its servers for illegal file sharing out of respect for the privacy rights of its users, IU Policy Officer Mark Bruhn said. \nHowever, when the RIAA and MPAA notify IU of the illegal activity on its servers, IU responds according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. \nThe RIAA and MPAA enlist agents to roam the Internet to watch for illegal downloads. When those agents determine that someone using IU's servers has downloaded an illegal movie or music file, they contact the University Information Technology Services policy office.\nThe user who has downloaded the file is identified only by a discrete tracking code, not by name. \nThe policy office then contacts the user by e-mail, warning that the file must be deleted. The student must contact UITS and state the file has been removed.\nIf the student affirms the file has been deleted, the policy office considers the matter resolved.\nHowever, if IU receives a second notification stating the same user has again downloaded an illegal file, that user's access to IU's servers will immediately be terminated. The user's name will also be reported to the dean's office.\nBruhn said most students comply with the first warning. \n"Students who lose their connectivity understand quickly how inconvenient that is because they have to go to a residence hall lab or come to campus to do their computing," Bruhn said.\nBruhn said he supports expulsions and arrests for students who ignore the University warnings and still engage in illegal downloading. \n"Students really need to understand that IU has obligations under the law," he said. "Our goal is to educate as much as we can, but there is certainly a necessary discipline aspect of this."\nAccording to Cnet.com, half of all teens and 19 percent of all Americans over the age of 12 reported having downloaded music from file-swapping services in 2002. \nBruhn said disconnecting students' access to the residence halls servers prevents IU from being the target of a lawsuit from the RIAA and MPAA. The industries could sue IU under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act if IU did not halt the downloading once it was notified.\nAccording to a recent federal court ruling, the RIAA and MPAA can also force IU to release the names of the users who break the law. The industries have said they have no plans to go after individual students, however.\nWith the RIAA and MPAA pushing IU and other universities to take a tougher stance, Bruhn said IU is concerned about the privacy rights of its students. \nA national task force with representatives from both higher education and the movie and music industries has been formed to examine the privacy and legal issues from a university standpoint. Bruhn and IU Vice President for Information Technology Michael McRobbie are both members of the task force.\nMonday, the group met via Weblink to discuss their different goals.\n"We need to ensure legal use of the network, while not impeding other use or being overly intrusive at the same time," Bruhn said. "This is why we wanted to be involved in this task force, so we could attempt to learn and influence what happens in this area."\nIn February, UITS received close to 150 complaints from the music and movie industry about illegal sharing on IU's servers.\nIU is also trying to educate students about the new legal risks involved in file sharing. Later this month UITS will distribute a flier with a picture of a giant compact disc asking "Are you legal?" The flier includes tips on how to avoid copyright law infringement.