Mar 30, 2004
University officials vow to continue file-sharing warnings
By Adam Lewis
Staff writer


University officials plan to continue educating students about the dangers of illegal file sharing in light of a lawsuit filed by the recording industry against a member of the university community, but students said they won't be deterred from downloading music.

"I think we've done a lot, and the last thing we want to become is policemen for the recording industry," said university Provost Bill Destler. "We have to make sure students are aware of the risks of this kind of activity."

The lawsuit, filed one week ago, named an IP address from the university's network for sharing pirated files. A total of 532 lawsuits were filed last week by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Anne Bowden, university counsel in the Office of Legal Affairs, said the university has not yet received an actual request from the RIAA for assistance in determining the identity of the offending student. Instead, it has only been told via e-mail that a lawsuit is forthcoming.

Some student leaders are not surprised a university community member has been named in such a suit.

"It's not totally unexpected," said Stuart McPhail, a member of a Residence Halls Association task force examining file sharing on the campus. "We put the task force together because the University of Maryland was one of the worst colleges in terms of sharing movie files."

Many students said they still plan to download music, despite the dangers.

Dan, a freshman physics major who asked to have his last name withheld, said he has between 500 and 1,000 songs on his computer that have been downloaded from Kazaa and Direct Connect.

"The lawsuit makes me wary about downloading large amounts of music," he said. "If there's a song I really want, it's not going to stop me from downloading it in the short term."

Dan said he doesn't agree with the RIAA's methods of enforcement.

"I definitely don't think it's right for them to just do it," he said. "I know the only way they can do it is randomly, and I understand they have to have some kind of fine or punishment, but I think it's quite harsh what they're doing to these people."

McPhail said he believes the lawsuit will have some effect on students, but not enough to entirely quell file sharing on the campus.

"It will likely have an effect because it is more close to home and a bit more real," he said. "Maybe if it's their friend, or a guy down the hall or in class who got sued, it will have more of an effect, but I doubt it will stop altogether."

Dan agreed with McPhail's statement, and said he believes he'll download files less frequently in the next few weeks.

Members of the RHA task force hope the education campaign they are planning for the fall semester will have an impact on students' decisions to download music.

"Personally, I think that a good campaign will provide information for students, so they know what the risks are," said Seth Zonies, a task force member. "Will it stop them? I couldn't really say, but I hope they will make more informed decisions before they download."

Source: http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamo.../30/news6.html