College Tunes into MP3 Battle

Author: Charles Goulding

The baby boomers had television, Generation X Nintendo and today, Generation Y boasts the prize-winner of them all - the Internet.

For years, Generation Y has used the Internet for purposes of downloading free music files from other people's computers. In doing so, this generation has enjoyed both a deluge of new music as well as the opaque suspicion that it has been getting away with something decidedly naughty.

Philosophically, file sharing opens a Pandora's box of issues, calling into question the relationship between technology and law, as both have followed divergent paths in recent years.

Intellectualizing aside, however, little concrete guidance has been provided for today's youth regarding this issue.



Indeed, few will take a stand on the topic, save the incensed record companies who stare blankly into their vault of gold as it gets sucked down a bottomless drain like quicksand.

Society does a good job playing parent with regard to drugs, alcohol and, within educational institutions, plagiarism. Here, students know where they stand.

In terms of Internet file sharing, however, no one seems to want to step up to the plate, even as the RIAA has begun running around club-in-hand.

In essence, the College's position is simple - "if they catch you, we can't stand in the way." After briefly referencing the illegality of the issue, Dean of Library and Information Services Barbara Doyle-Wilch states in a memo to all students, staff and faculty dated May 6, 2003, "Please understand that Library and Information Services does not actively police or monitor computers or networks in search of illicit or inappropriate activities ... However, if illegal or inappropriate activities are brought to our attention, we are obligated to investigate and act, including cooperating with legal authorities, if necessary."

Having thus "pulled a Switzerland," Middlebury joins a growing list of potential authorities opting to take a hands-off approach to this contentious issue. Regardless of the merits of this stance, the fact remains that a gaping hole exists between the techno-empowered youths of Generation Y and the media conglomerates that have just waged war against them. Void of a mediating, moralizing force, students have collided head on with some of the world's most omnipotent and avaricious corporations, begging the question, Where are Mom and Dad in all of this?

At Middlebury, music file sharing has dropped considerably since its late 90s Napster high. The sole way in which the college actively regulates student usage of the Internet is through prioritization of the files being downloaded.

"As in the past, we continue with a higher priority of certain types of Internet traffic, such as http for Web access, that are most used in support of academic and administrative operations of the College, while other types of Internet traffic, such as those known to be associated with programs such as Napster or Gnutella, do not have as a high priority," said Digital Millennium Act Copywrite Agent Jeff Rehbach.

Students often cite the low prioritization of music downloads, and thus the slugishness of file transmission, as the leading reason why more downloading doesn't occur.

"At Middlebury, the bandwidth restrictions make downloading music basically not worthwhile," said Andrew Carnabucci '06.

Rehbach added, "Music files are not blocked, but if there is congestion on our Internet connection, they will not be processed as quickly."

Of course, one "simple" solution would be to block illegal file downloads altogether.

This measure would require a substantial undertaking - one which the college does not currently wish to implement. In the meantime, banning certain files would potentially run the risk of impinging on the ability to share other files for academic purposes.

After all, some file sharing is perfectly legitimate.

Other barriers also inhibit students from downloading more music as well.

In her memo, Doyle-Wilch referenced free music download sites like KaZaa as hotbeds for virus propagation. The recent Blaster Worm virus has left many students without a functional computer, let alone the ability to download free music.

Music files, also, take up a substantial amount of disk space. When computers begin working as slow as electronic molasses, the cause is typically memory depletion as a result of excessive downloading.

Lauren Young '06 explained that she avoids sharing for these reasons. "I need the memory space, and I don't want the viruses," she said.

With legal action, the RIAA has succeeded in planting a seed of fear in the mischievous hearts of today's music pirates.

Doyle-Wilch notes that students from Princeton, Michigan Tech and Rensellear Polytechnic Institute all recently settled in lawsuits with the recording industry for amounts between $12,000 and $17,000. And, of course, what's a controversial legal topic these days without an absurd extreme: 12 year old Brianna LaHara was sued by the RIAA for downloading over 1,000 songs on KaZaa, recently settling out of court for a sum substantially less than the initial $150,000.

Indeed, most students readily admit that free downloading is "technically" wrong, but they also admit that the current legal scare tactics have not affected their downloading behavior.

"The increase in legal action hasn't really changed my downloading habits, although I never downloaded much music in the first place," stated Andrew Dines '05.

Another student who requested to remain anonymous added, "Obviously it's in my head, otherwise I wouldn't request anonymity. At the same time, though, free music is still too readily available for me not to take advantage of it. And I definitely don't care enough about the record companies to alter my behavior on their account."

The recording industry, and some artists, are quick to lambaste file-sharers for their disregard of copyrights and intellectual property.

And, of course, they're right. To a large extent, students offer hollow justification of their habits in light of the amount of pleasure those habits afford them. The lack of regard for the recording industry, however, even on the part of the most highly educated of America's students, merits further consideration.

Media conglomerates have thrived from an insatiable demand for pop music, television and other forms of entertainment. Indeed, MTV and the like shape demand and propogate it inasmuch as they simply cater to what they claim youth already wants. Having grown fat off of twenty years of inflated CD prices, the RIAA now stares in awe as Generation Y has found a way to get its pop fix without forking over $20 for it. The RIAA created this beast, and now that it has lost control, they've appealed to the courts, and our moral sensiblities to boot.

Perhaps America's youth does owe the RIAA some money. Perhaps, also, in turning its back on its pop sugar Daddy, Generation Y has become conscious of a kind of manipulation and exploitation that will change relations with its "media parents" forever.

In an effort to find a middle-ground, companies like Apple have launched services some believe offer the correct compromise between overpriced CDs and free music on the Web. For less than a dollar per song, subscribers to Apple's iTunes Music Store can choose from among 300,000 songs, legally offered for download by Apple.

Yet there remain disadvantages to such a limited network. Even though the program is reportedly user friendly, users complain that the selection is paltry and overpriced.

"I think that free music downloads will eventually be phased out by a pay system, [but] the price will need to come way down before this happens. One dollar a song is absurd," speculated Dines.


In July, eBay unveiled its own style of music vending: eBay Music.

Here, bidders bet on rights to a song, which will become available to them instantaneously for download upon winning. Rather than charge a flat rate, eBay will allow marker forces to determine the individual value of a song.

"We think the market is a lot smarter than the recording industry, or even the artists [in setting prices]," stated CEO Meg Whitman.

The musical selection on eBay exceeds that of all other legitimate Internet vendors combined, though the RIAA contends it will fight the eBay model in court.

Smarting from plummeting sales, some recording companies like Columbia have slashed CD prices by as much as 30 percent.

Others are doing their best to jump on the eMusic bandwagon, with companies such as Sony planning to release their own form of Internet music within the next six months.

It is expected that in the coming years, the recording industry will reach a compromise with its consumers, likely in the form of a hybrid between Apple and eBay's music stores. To this end, Secretary of the College Eric Davis opined that "the evolution of the music market will be analagous to what happened when VHS entered the movie industry, forcing film companies to readjust policy in accordance with technological innovation."

Until this equilibrium is reached, students face a lingering dilemma - to share or not to share?

For the student interested in downloading free music, mixed messages both from Universities and the RIAA itself offer little consolation. When a student orders a Dell computer through Middlebury, for example, the machine comes complete with a CD burner. "I can't think of many uses for a CD burder aside from stealing music and then burning it," stated Catherine Hileman '05, "unless you create and burn your own music, and that constitues a very small part of the total population."

Often, the media conglomerates send mixed messages of their own. "Sometimes the same people who tell you not to steal their music create the machinery that enable you to do so," stated Alfonso Maraver '05. "Think of Sony - they produce CDs, but they also make computers as well as CD burners."

When authorities aren't sending mixed messages, they haven't been saying much of anything.

Remarked Carnabucci, "I've never personally used [pay sites], but why pay when it could be yours free? Of course, philosophically, I am opposed to downloading music, and there really is no valid argument you can make supporting the practice. I simply have the mental dexterity to separate theory from practice."

Either Carnabucci's quip underscores the silliness of the youth argument, or it belies a deceptively complex student morality. Regardless, file sharing continues, as do some of the oddest legal battles in U.S. history. Perhaps the lack of "parental" intervention is as it should be. Every teen, after all, eventually needs to make a break with his or her parent, especially when that parent is the music industry.