IUSA plans downloading services

During this spring's IU Student Association elections, the Hoosier party garnered many eager followers, largely thanks to its promise to provide a media downloading service to students. At the first meeting of the IUSA Congress on April 26, a resolution was passed to officially pursue implementing a downloading service on campus. Now, new IUSA officers are beginning the grueling selection process and aren't sure when they will be finished.\nThough IUSA President Betsy Henke said their goal is to have some type of service in place by fall, Garrett Scharton, IUSA's chief of external affairs and the leader of the search, said it's still early in the selection process and they don't want to rush through it.\nScharton said he's currently negotiating with four companies, talking to University Information Technology Services and getting advice from other schools like Purdue, University of Denver and Michigan State, who have already implemented downloading services.\n"(We're getting) perspective from students and administration so when IU does finally sign on the dotted line, we know we've made the right decision," he said.\nIUSA began the selection process by e-mailing all of the companies that participated in IU's Digital Karma Festival last year because UITS recommended that they talk to those who had already shown interest in IU. Within hours, Scharton said they had received responses from four companies.\nScharton said they are considering two key factors when looking at providers: cost and accessibility. \nIUSA's goal is to provide downloads at no additional cost to students, which is a possibility as long as students download the music only to computers but not to iPods. Scharton was also unsure how payment would work and said he didn't know if the organization would have to pay a flat rate to provide the service to students. \nIUSA wants to ensure that as many students as possible can access the service as well, but no service other than iTunes works for Macs. While this would exclude a number of students, Scharton said a recent survey suggests the vast majority of students use PCs. Henke, a Mac user herself, said they might be able to provide the service on some lab and lounge computers in dorms and other areas around campus so more students could have access to downloads.\nIn order to determine cost and accessibility, IUSA is looking at the various formats and features of each service.\nTwo of the services offer a way for professors to post materials that students can download. While this feature may distinguish them from other providers, it's a sign that a service might be more expensive. Scharton said this could be a concern with any service that offers more media than just music, such as movies and video games.\n"Anything that might raise extra cost to students raises red flags to us," he said.\nScharton said one service offers "tethered" downloads, meaning the actual computer downloads are free to students because companies run banner ads across the top of the play pages. But with this service, certain advertisements might cause a problem.\n"IU is an Adidas school, so what if Nike decides to advertise on the service?" Scharton said. \nNone of the services offer free downloads to iPods simply because of legal issues, but Scharton said he hopes a company might offer downloads at a reduced cost since so many students could potentially use the service.\nSome IUSA members are now experimenting with trial accounts, which were granted to them by a company that gave IUSA a Web presentation last week. Scharton said that in the fall they might open up trial accounts to students to get their input.\nLast week IUSA also had a meeting with UITS to discuss privacy issues and other problems implementing a service may cause. \nMerri Beth Lavagnino, IU chief information technology policy officer, said in an e-mail that safety issues could arise if students used their IU usernames and passwords to access downloading services, but that these problems could be prevented simply by educating students about what they should and shouldn't do. Lavagnino expressed more concern about students downloading files from various providers.\n"There actually are more security issues with using free file sharing software packages you download from the Internet," she said. "They often contain unwanted adware or spyware, and it can be confusing trying to figure out if a particular song or movie file is being offered legally. A subscription service would be a business arrangement with a contract and so there would be much less risk."\nAfter IUSA representatives decide on a service, they will make a recommendation to UITS and then sit down with the administration to discuss the decision. If UITS or the administration is unsatisfied, the process may be repeated.\nScharton, Henke and the rest of IUSA are determined to see the project through, though. Henke said she thinks it could save students money since they have to pay for legal downloads now or face penalties if they get caught illegally downloading media.\n"We feel that there should be a fair (downloading) option," Henke said. "That's why we're going after this"