Students scolded for file-sharing

Author: Jon King

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Home Box Office Inc. (HBO) have identified 90 total incidents of possible copyright infraction at the College since April 21, 2008. After Dean of the College Tim Spears alerted the College community by e-mail last week about the increased scrutiny with which the recording industry now monitors student activity, the two corporations have described to the College 40 more instances of alleged illegal file-sharing on campus.

According to Library and Information Services (LIS) Policy Adviser Jeff Rehbach, the majority of reported incidents involved illegal music file-sharing through peer-to-peer (P2P) systems such as Limewire, Gnutella and Ares. The College has received similar infringement allegation notices in the past, but never in such high volume. RIAA reported only 14 notifications total across 12 months in the 2004-2005 school year. By 2007, that number climbed to only 33.

"This recent upsurge in notifications has occurred on many campuses," said Rehbach.

With the aid of firms like Media Sentry, HBO and RIAA can easily identify Internet addresses of users who frequently access copyrighted materials through P2P systems. Upon discovery of illegal activity, the corporations then can a college's central TSP server, to which the address is connected. Whenever LIS receives such a report, it notifies the individual to whom the address belongs. The College does not reveal identity of the address's owner to HBO or the RIAA unless demanded to by court order.

Thus far at the College, RIAA and HBO's alerts have served only as warnings to students to discontinue their file-sharing activities in order to avoid further investigation. At many schools, however, the recording industry has taken strict legal action against students, requesting payments of several thousand dollars in "pre-litigation settlements," that would serve as alternatives to copyright court.

"Middlebury students have yet to engage in any such settlements," said Rehback. "If we do, our legal counsel would make a determination about forwarding the letters to students, based upon the content and wording the notices. If forwarded, students should consult their own lawyers on how to proceed."

Questioning the validity of accusations, some universities have refused to forward "pre-litigation settlement" notices to students. Both Marshall University in Huntington, W.V. and the University of Oregon even introduced motions to quash RIAA subpoenas demanding that the universities reveal the identities of student Internet users accused of file-sharing.

Rehbach also expressed skepticism about the veracity of some allegations.

"When I contact students, at times they claim they do not have any downloaded files, or the particular file identified in the allegation, or they only use 'legal' services such as iTunes and Napster," he said. "Occasionally, we receive a notice that contains an Internet address that we know has never had a computer hooked up to it."

This recent crack down on file-sharing occurs within months of the 10-year anniversary of the creation of the Digital Millennium Copywright Act (DMCA). The revolutionary statute helped introduce a legal framework governing the flow of copyrighted information across the Internet. Many wonder if another update to the statute could reconcile the interests of recording artists, of the recording industry and of Internet users.

Topher Hunt '11 and Jillian Garber '09.5 both took the College's Winter Term class on intellectual property law, in which the file-sharing controversy was discussed. Both believe a new legal framework should promote freer flow of Internet information.

"What I think needs to happen is a general shift in the recording industry to better accommodate the modern technology that allows for file-sharing," said Garber.

"I think the eventual resolution to this war will require the RIAA to become more flexible and open-minded and re-assess its role in the music industry to incorporate the reality of file-sharing instead of lashing out at it," Topher agreed. "Many industries have gone through the same reaction in the past, and have eventually adapted or faded in importance."