Return to Home
 
  Internet
 


The incessant downloading of music, movies, television shows and software by students is clogging computer networks and impairing legitimate academic pursuits...

Campus Crackdown

"But everybody else is doing it . . ." 

It's the oldest excuse in the book.  The one that irks parents most, but universally utilized to justify youthful misdeeds.  While most of us tried the excuse to rationalize such relatively innocent behavior as wearing short skirts or breaking curfew, the rationalization has been adopted by thousands of college students to steal music, movies and other copyrighted works on the Internet.  Finally, administrators are starting to crack down on students who are taking advantage of their schools' powerful computer networks and high-speed Internet connections to download — for free — everything from the latest Eminem CD to the new James Bond movie, often before new releases hit the record stands and big screens. 

The most publicized and effective crackdown occurred last month at the U.S. Naval Academy where administrators seized nearly 100 government-issued computers from Midshipmen suspected of downloading unauthorized copies of music and other copyrighted works.  Bound by a strict honor code that reads, in part, Middies must not "lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do," (a code we all are, or should be, bound by in some respect) students found guilty face punishments ranging from loss of leave to court-martial and expulsion. 

In addition to legal and moral reasons, civilian schools have a more practical motivation to curb illicit Internet piracy on campus.  The incessant downloading of music, movies, television shows and software by students is clogging computer networks and impairing legitimate academic pursuits by faculty and students.  At the University of Maryland, for example, students have complained that slow connections are hampering their studies.  At the University of Santa Clara, some faculty members claim they can't use Internet-based technology while teaching evening classes — the network is just too slow, as students are busy downloading free music in their dorm rooms.

Until recently, school administrators have been reluctant to act for fear of being perceived as invading student privacy and impeding academic freedom.  While there still exists an unwillingness to monitor actual content downloaded on students' computers, many colleges and universities are getting creative in an attempt to crack down on Internet piracy.  School officials at UCLA and elsewhere have taken steps to limit or restrict students' ability to use peer-to-peer services such as Kazaa and others by limiting the amount of bandwidth accessible by each student.  

In addition to technological measures, many schools are using widespread Internet piracy by students as an opportunity to educate them on copyright law.  At Tufts University, for example, every student is required to attend an orientation seminar on copyright infringement before being given access to a broadband connection. 

Other schools are holding dorm meetings and orientations to send a more direct message. Students at these schools who use the campus network for unauthorized copying are subject to disciplinary action from probation to being booted off the campus computer network. 

For those students who have been disciplined, the response is invariably the same: "But everyone else is doing it, why target me?"  To quote every parent throughout the history of time who has had to respond to this justification, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?"  If that's not enough, illicit peer-to-peer file "sharing" is illegal, plain and simple — it's no better than stealing books from the campus store. 

For that reason and that alone, the nation's colleges and universities must ramp up efforts to deter the widespread theft of copyrighted works taking place on campus.  Some have taken good first steps, but much more remains to be done.


[Posted December 12, 2002]