In an effort to combat the downloading of copyrighted files at universities across the nation, numerous colleges are in the process of working with music and movie companies in hopes of finding alternatives to the illegal practice.
The Recording Industry Association of America, along with entertainment company heads and college administrators, has created the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities. The group will analyze and test various methods they hope will deter students from continuing to download copyrighted files.
Charles Phelps, Provost of the University of Rochester, is a member of the committee, and he said the group is looking at three main angles from which to tackle the issue.
The first method Phelps described as a “technology task force,” in which the volume of non-academic downloaded files would be monitored. Likewise, universities could look for specific illegally downloaded files within a student’s computer system in its process of “content analysis.” Lastly, companies may work with universities to develop files that students could pay to legally download.
In addition to these suggestions, some universities have considered tacking a subscription fee onto tuition or student activity costs that would enable students to access online music services.
Phelps described the problem of person-to-person file sharing as being precipitated by peer pressure in the same “everyone is doing it, so it’s OK” attitude that adds to binge-drinking. It’s something that administrators are trying to control, but have not yet managed to do so completely.
“I think there is a lot of misperception. Everyone’s doing it and it’s not OK,” he said.
The University of Rochester and Pennsylvania State University are expected to partake in the launch program of these proposals, which the committee hopes to enact by the spring semester.
Jessica O’Neil, a senior at Penn State and executive chief of staff for the undergraduate student government, is not sure that these proposals will prove successful.
As she noted, students have become used to easy access to a wide variety of free music, so requiring downloading fees may not go over well, something students may easily avoid.
“Unfortunately, with technology moving as [quickly] as it does, it will be hard for the music and movie industries to be able to protect themselves,” O’Neil said.
In addition, O’Neil noted that many mainstream bands opted to not partake in subscription music services, which will make the services even more unpopular.
Phelps noted, however, that if students do not comply with proposed university guidelines, they may face serious legal and governmental repercussions.
“There’s some extraordinarily adverse things that can happen to students if they continue [downloading illegally],” Phelps said, adding that any action taken by Congress will be far more severe than the steps the committee is working with.
Peter DuBlois, director of communication services at EDUCAUSE, an organization dedicated to intelligent use of information technology, hopes that the methods will take both the entertainment industry and college students into consideration, ending up with services that “meet the needs of the law and of those of higher education.”
O’Neil agrees, noting that companies may soon begin to sue file-sharers $150,000 for each song downloaded. With the threat of legal action becoming more of a reality, she thinks that students may start to back off from using servers like KaZaA.
As Phelps noted, the committee is a work in progress, and depending on the success of the initial programs, the committee may implement them throughout the nation.
