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BY ROSA KIM

In print | Published December 6, 2007

In September, the Recording Industry Association of America detected four Internet Protocol addresses on Swarthmore’s network sharing sound files owned by the record companies they represent. Associate Dean for Student Life Myrt Westphal said the college’s Information and Technology Services traced the IP addresses to two sophomores and two seniors.

ITS Director Judy Downing said the RIAA notified ITS of these illegal activities approximately two weeks ago. Shortly afterwards, ITS forwarded the RIAA’s message to the four students.

The RIAA is not able to trace IP addresses back to individuals — it is only able to contact these students through ITS. But if ITS does not comply, the RIAA is legally in the right to subpoena the college to reveal the students’ identities under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as stated in the college’s copyright policy. “We have not given the RIAA anyone’s name,” Westphal said. “The RIAA would have to get a subpoena to force us to give that up.”

In its November press release, the RIAA, “a trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry,” according to its Web site, said it sent over 400 pre-litigation settlement letters to colleges and universities across the country. “[This] gives students the opportunity to resolve copyright infringement claims against them at a discounted rate before a formal lawsuit is filed,” the press release said. The RIAA launched this campaign earlier this year, specifically focusing on illegal file trafficking on college campuses. Swarthmore received its first two notices last semester. Westphal said it is uncertain whether other sweeps have taken place that the college has not yet heard about.

ITS Information Security Analyst Nick Hannon said while organizations like the RIAA have previously taken measures to hold individuals sharing a large number of files accountable, this new wave of screening individuals regardless of their share file size has not been seen before. “The RIAA and some others have decided to play hardball and the stakes are a lot higher now then they were maybe a year or two ago in terms of the amount of money they are trying to assess. The risk is a lot higher now and that has to be weighed into any decision,” he said.

Downing said according to the notices ITS received from the RIAA, the majority of the individuals detected used the peer-to-peer software called LimeWire. However, Hannon said this does not mean that other P2P software, even internal ones such as Direct Connect, are in any way safe. “There is no such thing as being anonymous on the Internet, it just isn’t really feasible. Whether you’re browsing a Web site or you’re sharing files, you’re really not anonymous in any way,” he said. “It’s extremely hard to be anonymous. That’s something that I think young folks in general don’t quite understand of how much information is out there and what kind of records are out there.”

Westphal said while she supports the recording industry’s stance against illegal downloading, she does not, however, support how the RIAA has decided to handle these cases.

“The way that the RIAA is doing

this, I’m not very happy with. I guess they have to pick on somebody and I guess

that colleges are more able to find things in the complex of a college or a university, rather than people in their individual homes," she said. “[But] to hit people with thousands of dollars of penalty, that’s harsh. So I feel very sympathetic to the people who got these messages that are going to have to deal with this. But I do agree that the artist should be paid for their work.”

Co-president of Free Culture Ben Mazer ‘10 said while the organization supports the free distribution of art, science and technology, it does not support illegal downloading. Instead, it encourages alternative means of accessing music, such as purchasing used CDs and records. He said by not downloading illegally, one is also reducing the RIAA’s power which Free Culture believes to garner most of the profit generated from sales, instead of the artist. He said while the RIAA claims illegal downloading adversely affects everyone involved, artists still benefit from them because it helps put them out there and the merchandise and concert ticket sales make up for the lost profit.

Westphal said the college does not police its network for illegal trafficking nor is the dean’s office approaching this as a disciplinary issue. Rather, “when something like this happens, there’s always a cry for more education.”

One of the four students, a sophomore who requested to remain anonymous, said while the college has made some efforts to educate the campus community about the risks involved in copyright infringement, more can be done to promote awareness about the seriousness of the consequences.

“[It] has really gone right over the heads of the campus, because it’ll be in a general e-mail about ten other things. It’ll be only known towards freshman during orientation. It’s not [the college’s] fault. I’m not blaming them, but in working with them, we can figure out other ways to let the campus know that, ’look you really need to just not have these programs on the computer,” the student said. “You are taking a risk every time you even have the program open.”

Westphal said that many individuals on campus falsely believe that they’re safe. And that even though the recent measures the RIAA has taken might not reflect the way things are done at Swarthmore, the risks and consequences of copyright infringement are very real.

“I’m really upset for the students. It’s not the Swarthmore way — we warn people before we do things to them,” Westphal said. “But Swarthmore’s not the real world. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that there’s nobody else in the pipeline.”

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