Students learn a lot of new vocabulary when they come to college. They can throw around terms like "democratic peace theory" or "historical constructivism" like a pro. But despite all the new learning, there is still one word that has a place in every college students' heart: free.
But "free" has become a charged word in recent years, especially when used in a variety of key phrases such as "free music." As six Tufts students learned last year after getting sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), "free" sometimes comes with a price. But has the hefty price tag of monetary settlements or disciplinary probation stopped students from illegal downloading?
Some students say no. "Last spring, I probably downloaded three shows a week on average," said Alex, a junior (names have been changed). "[I] just started downloading full video games towards the end of the summer, but I only got two. I probably get a movie every two to three weeks or so."
Alex says he's not worried about getting caught; in fact, he admits that his downloading has increased since Tufts was issued subpoenas. "I've just gotten better at being careful," he said. "I kind of figure, why worry when I haven't used my get-out-of-jail-free card yet?"
The "get-out-of-jail-free" card to which Alex is referring is the university's policy on downloading, in which a student's first offense is reported to University Information Technologies (UIT). The offense student must attend a session on intellectual property rights, but the student's Internet access rights are restored and no further punishment is enacted.
Junior Kevin, however, has used up this first offense: he had to attend a UIT session after he was caught downloading the popular HBO series "Entourage." That hasn't stopped his downloading, though; Kevin says he still downloads quite a bit, but that he has "tried to avoid HBO and Showtime shows because of that experience."
Kevin said that the session he attended did not put him off downloading: "The guy who was supposed to do it wasn't there, so a student employee told us not to use BitTorrent, because it uploads and downloads simultaneously; thus we can be tracked and get caught," he said. According to Kevin, the student employee added that, "if we use LimeWire, we should turn off file sharing."
Kevin says that he "never figured [university downloading policy] out."
But could LimeWire become legal sometime soon? The peer-to-peer (P2P) network counter-sued the RIAA on Monday for "anti-trust violation, consumer fraud and other misconduct," according to the suit.
Even if LimeWire wins its suit, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman explained that the laws regulating illegal downloading of copyrighted material would still exist. "We know it's illegal by the DMCA legislation," Reitman said, referring to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998. "[RIAA] could be broken up, but still there would be this concept of intellectual property ... Probably the enforcement of it would shift in some way."
Currently, though, it's the RIAA that cracks down on illegal downloading at Tufts, not the university itself. "We're not in a position to either condone nor police illegal downloading," Reitman said. "When it's pointed out to us, we have to deal with it... There's no college that polices on its own, because it's labor-intensive [and] somewhat impossible.
"We don't have the tools in place to do that," Reitman added.
The policing, Reitman explained, is done by the RIAA, who sends lists of offending IP addresses (the unique code every computer uses to communicate with other machines via the Internet) to UIT, expecting disciplinary action to be taken.
Reitman explained that last summer's subpoenas were an unusual event. "Why did [the RIAA] choose to [issue subpoenas] rather than what they usually do?" he said. "The answer to that is why I think they do these lawsuits at all ... it got huge publicity."
The surprise RIAA action didn't change university policy, Reitman explained, which had been in place before the subpoenas were issued. The policy includes a second offense of disciplinary probation and loss of Internet access for a year, though nothing is recorded. A third offense involves "substantial disciplinary action for ethical violations," according to Reitman, which will be marked on a student's record.
But publicity hasn't completely curbed students from downloading. "The number of students that are reported to UIT by the [RIAA] has not diminished or increased" over the past several years, Reitman said. He estimates that between 200 and 300 Tufts students are caught for downloading each year, 60 of whom go on to be cited for second offenses. According to Reitman, 12 students were caught for a third time over the last year, though no more subpoenas have been issued.
Despite those high numbers, some students have cut back on downloading. Junior Katie Ray admits that, "I definitely used to download a lot more." Now, though, she only downloads occasionally.
"I do worry, but with most of the programs, I don't share my folder, and I think that helps prevent people from reaching you specifically," Ray said.
Instead of using P2P sharing software, such as LimeWire or BitTorrent, Ray uses myTunes, which allows people within the same network to download songs from each others' iTunes library.
Alex said he does the same thing, though he uses BitTornado - similar to BitTorrent - for movies and games. "I avoid downloading music," Alex said. With myTunes, "there isn't really any point."
Junior Mark Villanueva expressed the same sentiment: "I download music from my roommates ... using myTunes," he said, "but I don't use anything like LimeWire or BitTorrent."
Villanueva says last summer's incident scared him away from P2P networks: "I used LimeWire freshman year," he said, "but I don't want to get subpoenaed."
Reitman suggested an alternative to subpoena worries and pricy court settlements: the Cdigix program which offers students free "tethered downloads" from a library of approximately one million songs. The downloads differ from LimeWire or legal iTunes songs, however; they will only last on a student's computer as long as they have a Tufts address, and they cannot be burned onto CDs or most mp3 players.
"I'm trying to talk to the companies about [extending] the time you can have the music to your alumnae status, which will last forever," Reitman said.
Though at first the university paid a monthly subscription for the program, they now receive it for free. "They're making it available for free, because the money that they make is more from ... advertising that will appear," Reitman said.
However, the Cdigix program has other limitations besides "tethered downloading" and advertising: it can't be used on Macs. "It's estimated that somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of the student body uses Macs," Reitman said. "There is nothing that's cross-platform right now."
Though Reitman said that 45 percent of the student body had signed up for Cdigix, he admitted that not everybody uses it.
Villanueva admitted that he preferred myTunes: "I remember looking into it freshmen year ... and thinking that it wasn't convenient enough," he said. Villanueva said he didn't know anyone else who did use Cdigix.
Ray also does not take advantage of Cdigix: "What's the point if I can get music, albeit illegally, that I can listen to whenever I want?" she said.
Junior Halley Lisuk does not use Cdigix because she has a Mac. "The only thing I've done is ourTunes from the iTunes network," she said. Lisuk has never employed P2P downloading. "I just don't feel the need to; I have plenty of other places to get music."
Though Lisuk does not use Cdigix, she estimates that it and similar programs have helped decrease illegal downloading. "I think, in the past couple years, it's kind of petered off a bit, because there's so many other places to get music legally," she said.
Reitman agreed that plenty of legal downloading alternatives do exist. Besides just Cdigix, "there are also other legal services out there which charge very little for listening to music," Reitman said. "If you go to the UIT Web site, they have a summary of each, and the pros and cons."
Despite the cons of such programs, Reitman encouraged students to try them instead of P2P software.
"You only get your reputation once," he said. He pointed out that lawsuits and third-time downloading offenses at Tufts go on a student's permanent record.
"When people Google your name when you're doing a job search some day, it's going to come up as an ethics violation. No one needs that grief."
