STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’08: Digital music guide

BY KATHY LALUK

More and more things are becoming extinct everyday. Some of
the most recent victims include CDs, cassettes, and records. We’re the
millennial generation. We’ve gone digital — and so has our music.

            Since the
birth of Napster around the turn of the century, music downloads have become
the center of attention for music lovers, lawmakers, and lawyers alike, and
have stirred up controversy on college campuses across the country. It seems
you can’t flip through a newspaper or turn on the news without hearing about
music pirating and file sharing, and the lawsuits against them.

            While
downloading tunes for free may sound great at first, make sure you know what
you’re getting yourself into. The Recording Industry of America (RIAA), a trade
group that represents the major labels of the recording industry in the United States,
took notice of the free-of-charge, free-of-penalty music trend early on and has
been cracking down on downloaders ever since. Unfortunately for the millennial
generation, a good percentage of those downloaders are us.

The RIAA claims that using peer-to-peer and
file-sharing software, like LimeWire and Gnutella, to get music is copyright
infringement. And even though we may not like it, they’re right. Not to
mention, IP addresses linked to our shiny new laptops through our school’s
internet provider make it easy for the RIAA to prove their point. As of July
2006, the RIAA had brought lawsuits against more than 20,000 Americans
suspected of distributing copyrighted works.

            Some
peer-to-peer sites promise anonymity and protection against law enforcement by
artificially limiting bandwidth, hiding contents of a file from “eavesdroppers,”
and even by claiming freedom of speech. Despite their promises, however, few
have been able to keep up a steady blockade, and nearly every peer-to-peer site
that has been created has eventually been caught with their hands in the
illegal music cookie jar.

.           What happens
to anyone who gets caught sharing music with their friends, or downloading
“free” songs from the net? It starts off with a letter to you and your school,
letting them know about your illegal downloading and asking for more
information and a $3,000
pre-litigation fee. If the pre-litigation fee is not paid within 20 days of
receiving the notice, violators could face federal charges that can reach as
much as a $750 fee for each downloaded song.

            Some colleges and universities, like the University of
Wisconsin and the University of Maine (both of which were targets of the RIAA
initiative to prevent music pirating), have outright denied the requests of the
RIAA for student information, claiming it would violate student privacy and the
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.

For the most part, though, institutions of higher education have jumped on
the RIAA’s bandwagon and stepped up measure to prevent students from illegally
downloading music. RIT even offers students free use of download site Ruckus,
so they can legally download music. Just use your RIT e-mail address and
clickstream your way to your favorite tunes. Pretty soon, all colleges could be
required to develop such a plan to combat illegal downloading if a bill now
being debated in Congress becomes law.

            The
College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which passed through the Senate in
July 2007, and the House in February 2008, addresses college prices and campus
safety, among other issues. Section 494, the “Campus Theft Prevention Act,”
would require colleges to inform students of the policies and procedures
involved in illegal downloading and develop a plan giving alternatives to
downloading. The clause would also require colleges to explore technology-based
deterrents to illegal activity and submit an annual report of their policies to
the U.S. Department of Education.

            So
with lawsuits galore, new college policies, and even a possible federal law,
make sure you’re still enjoying life’s sweet music. Just make sure it’s legal.

This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2008.