Walk the plank

When sophomore Rachel Taxman received an e-mail last winter break telling her that she had downloaded illegal files and needed to delete them, she wasn't too concerned.\nBut when she returned to IU and found her Internet access shut off -- she began to pay attention. \nTaxman checked her e-mail on her sister's computer and found a message from the Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment Programs office telling her to delete the files or present contracts with record companies saying she had permission to have their music files on her computer. \nThe e-mail also gave her a phone number to call. The man she talked to told her why her Internet access was shut off and that she could be sued for $300,000 for using the IU server to download illegal files.\n"I had to go to a hearing where I was asked questions about ethics," Taxman said. "(For my punishment,) I made posters telling students that downloading music is illegal."\nIn recent years, several record companies have been cracking down on the illegal distribution of music. If students download music files and then allow the files to be shared, they are considered distributors and can be sued. \nAt a Union Board panel discussion Wednesday night, four members of IU's faculty spoke out against downloading illegal files. The panelists used their knowledge and expertise to discuss the legal aspects of file-sharing, what actions IU takes to punish students caught sharing files, how file-sharing affects the music industry and what other factors cause deterioration in the music industry. \nThe panelists were Associate University Council Beth Cate, Chief IT Security and Policy Officer Mark Bruhn, Associate Professor at the Kelley School of Business George Marakas and Associate Professor of Music Konrad Strauss. \nBruhn described the action IU takes to combat file-sharing. Although IU does not monitor illegal file use, copyright holders do. Since most students do not have permission from the copyright holder to distribute the files, they can be sued by the copyright holder if caught sharing files. Also, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, IU can force students to delete their files.\n"When (IU) receives a notice from a copyright owner that a student has been sharing copyrighted files, the student is told to go through an Oncourse tutorial, pass a quiz and remove the material," Bruhn said in an e-mail.\nHe added that if the student completes the steps within 24 hours, nothing else happens. But, if the student does not, the University has to block the student's connection until he or she takes the tutorial and passes the quiz.\nAccording to the IU Information Technology Policy Office, the number of copyright infringement notices IU received increased over the last year reaching a high of more than 300 in April 2003.\nIllegal file-sharing affects not only students who download but also everyone involved in the music industry.\nThe Record Industry Association of America estimates the music industry loses $4.2 billion each year due to illegal sharing. \nRIAA's Web site argues that everyone loses when music is pirated. The site states that pirates lose because law officials are cracking down on them, consumers lose because pirated music causes the cost of legitimate music to rise, honest retailers lose because they cannot compete with prices offered by pirates, the record companies lose because 85 percent of recordings released do not generate enough revenue to cover their costs and artists lose because they do not get the royalties and fees they earned.\nBrett Hayden, manager of Tracks, 415 E. Kirkwood Ave., said that he has seen an increase in sales since the music industry's recent legal offensive toward illegal music file-sharing.\n"At the beginning of the school year, we had a jolt in business over last year," he said. "You can't just get everything online like you used to."\nEven though many students continue to download music illegally, some students have started getting their music from legal Web sites that charge a small amount for the downloads. These sites include listen.com, which charges 79 cents and MusicMatch, which charges 99 cents. Apple iTunes Music Store, which also charges 99 cents per song, launched its Windows music store on Thursday. Other legal vendors can be found at the IT Policy Office Web site.\nAlthough Hayden does think it is cool that people can get music online, he thinks it is wrong because some artists are not going to be able to survive.\n"We can't totally kill off the music industry," Hayden said. "I'd go crazy."\n-- Contact staff writer Stephanie Susman at ssusman@indiana.edu.