BY JEFF DAVIDSON

In print | Published September 4, 2008 — Updated September 05, 2008 15:48

The soon-to-be reauthorized Higher Education Opportunity Act is yet another step in the initiative to combat illegal file sharing over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks on college campuses. Although officials do not believe the law will go into effect until July 2010, colleges are still required to make a good faith effort towards pro-activity in the never ending battle against illegal copyrighted material.

Since 2006, the Swarthmore community has received 272 complaints from companies demanding a removal of unrightfully obtained copyrighted content from the campus’s network. Complaints are usually in email form and detail everything from the user’s IP address to the file size to the artist, game, movie, TV, or software name. All of this information is first relayed to the Information and Tecnhology department, where it is then processed, recorded, and disseminated to the student in what Gayle Barton, the director of ITS, said takes at least an hour of manpower.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, copyright owners can send internet providers, such as colleges and universities, a letter forcing them to remove content from the system or else face legal liability. Once Swarthmore receives a notification, the student in question is given 10 days to comply; otherwise the student will lose access to the campus network.

Last spring alone, the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA) issued 24 complaints, while HBO, Paramount, Columbia, Time Warner, and NBC sent 26 more. All of these required the college to respond to the problem, while the new Education Act requires the college to initially prevent the problem.

“The Higher Education Act wants us to combat the problems,” Barton said. “We’ve just been responding to the problems – clearly we need to do more. At this point we’re talking to students and people in the Dean of Students Office to find out what to do.”

One step towards fixing that problem is an annual disclosure that briefs students on the dangers of bringing their P2P file sharing programs onto campus. The e-mail, sent on August 21, describes how much more difficult it is to remain virtually hidden on a campus network. It also impressed upon students the financial consequences they could face if caught sharing files.

The most disastrous problem for a college student is the pre-settlement letter, something that, although less common in recent months, is still not uncommon in the technological world. In March 2007 the first RIAA pre-settlement letters began shipping to colleges — since then the ITS received 13 letters to be relayed to students. The letter is nearly the same as a complaint, except in this case a student is forced to pay a settlement between $3,000 and $5,000 or face a much higher fine in court. This letter, usually the first notification a student gets of his or her wrongdoing, leaves the user with few options.

“There is still this attitude that the college will protect [its students],” Abigail Weathers ’10 said. “People think this only happened to two students, it won’t happen to me. It’s fun to be like, ‘I need this song,’ then you just get it. But the whole RIAA stuff is scary.”

For those who do remain afraid of a potentially large fine, a powerful option for Swarthmore students is DC++ for Windows or Shakespeer for Mac, file-sharing programs restricted only to the college campus. Anyone can search and download files from students on the campus network. “My RA just told us to delete everything else from the outside because DC++ is safe, easier to use, and no one outside of Swat can access it,” Lorenzo Ramirez ’10 said. Although it is not illegal to operate a DC++ network itself, it is illegal to use the network for the redistribution of copyrighted files. DC++ can be used to share freeware, shareware, or open source material without the risk of legal ramifications.

DC++ is one of several options available not only to Swarthmore students, but to anyone who chooses to utilize such resources. Pandora Radio is an online arena for free streaming music — listeners can simply choose an artist they like and the website immediately begins playing songs by that and similar artists.

Hulu.com is an online site that offers hundreds of TV shows and movies for free while Qtrax is a new player that allows for music download onto any computer for no charge. Both of these resources are ad-supported, meaning the user must only deal with a few short clips or images from advertisers and the content is then free. Since the websites and programs gather enough revenue from advertisers, the music, movie, or TV industry is safely paid in full for the use of their products. These services are still in the early stages and will continue to grow as the RIAA and similar organizations continue to enforce their copyrights.

“The entertainment industry needs new business models that make the music easier to get,” Barton said. “I think the industry is adjusting to the new world, but it’s going to take some more time. I think the problem [of illegal file sharing] to some extent may go away.” For now, Swarthmore students are urged to stay away from illegally downloaded content and instead utilize the plethora of free resources available to them.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article implied that DC++ is entirely safe and legal. The DC++ software itself is legal, but using DC++ to share copyrighted files is not. The article was been corrected on Sept. 5, 2008.

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