Group aims to stop illegal downloads

by Ashley Zellner

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 00:00

An advocacy group started by college students hopes to protect young people from the dangers of illegal downloading and encourage legal practices.

"Download Legal," out of Tuscaloosa, Ala., seeks to inform students of the risks involved in illegal file swapping and also promote the protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet.

"The idea is that so many people in college think that downloading software online illegally is OK and we would like to send a message that it actually hurts artists," said David C. Murphy, a member of Download Legal.

Although the program is still in its early stages, Murphy said the group hopes to increase awareness by holding campus lectures and debates. In addition, members will attend concerts to inform audiences about Download Legal in order to get the word out.

In the future, Download Legal members would like to form more groups at colleges around the nation, Murphy said.

"Illegal downloading is theft, it reduces opportunities for aspiring artists and threatens entry-level jobs, causing the cost of legitimate copies to increase," Ted Oberwager, a Download Legal member, said.

According to Oberwager, if students are informed about this issue, they can be persuaded not to download illegally. And some students may not even be aware that what they are doing is illegal, he added.

Additionally, there are a number of legal downloading networks available and students may not know the difference, Oberwager noted. For example, some beverage companies boast under-the-cap contests, offering free song downloads to winners.

With these legal options available, students might not differentiate between those and illegal web sites like Kazaa or Ares.

"I think I know the difference between what is legal and what is illegal to download, I just don't give it much thought because I don't think of it as illegal," Sasha, a UW freshman said. "It is just a way to get free movies and music."

Oberwager said he believes college students are often stereotyped as being the main source of illegal file-sharing. According to him, Download Legal may be one way of fighting this stereotype.

The University of Wisconsin has concerns regarding file sharing among its student body as well, UW officials say.

Brian Rust, spokesperson for DoIT at UW, said the university has taken some initiative to reduce the amount of file-sharing in its residence halls. Bandwidth for peer-to-peer file-sharing, he said, has been reduced through ResNet — the university's residence hall Internet service.

In addition, UW Housing has taken steps to inform students of the appropriate use of ResNet, citing penalties for improper use.

As part of the group's mission, Download Legal also wants people to know the consequences of being caught doing illegally downloading files.

If a person is found to be involved in illegal file-sharing, the Recording Industry Association of America sends a cease and desist letter to the offender, according to the Download Legal website.

Then, illegal downloading could warrant up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines if the offending content is not removed.

Repeat offenders can also receive up to six years in prison, and are held civilly liable for losses the industry may have encountered, totaling up to $150,000 per infringed copyright or per file that has been shared illegally.

But Rust noted that in most cases students just apologize and stop using the network illegally.

"Even though I know the consequences of what could happen, I think that the chances are too slim and I don't think I will stop doing it," UW sophomore Amanda said. "I know hundreds of people who download illegally, and not one of them has been punished."