Students may want to watch out the next time they try to illegally download the newest blockbuster movie or hit song - the University may notice.
On behalf of copyright owners such as music or film companies, Computing and Information Services sends notices to students caught pirating files. Toward the end of last semester, the number of notices increased dramatically - the fourth quarter of last semester saw about 77 notices sent a month, compared to about 12 a month in the third quarter, according to Connie Sadler, director of information technology security at CIS.
Movie studios are becoming more adamant about stopping illegal downloads, Sadler said. Last semester, 48 percent of the notices sent by CIS were from Universal Studios.
The music industry is also a major part of the crusade against illegal downloading. The Recording Industry Association of America was responsible for about 35 percent of notices last semester, according to Sadler.
Sadler said there have not been any additional subpoenas for Brown students over illegal file-sharing since the RIAA filed six lawsuits against students, reported by The Herald in July 2005.
University officials do not know how the lawsuits were settled, since the University's only responsibility with the subpoenas involved notifying the students, said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel. "Since we are not parties to the action, we do not know anything about the resolution of it," Ledbetter said.
When companies notify CIS that files have been illegally downloaded, they tell the University which files the student must delete from their hard drive and what program the student used to obtain them.
CIS then bans the student's computer from the Brown network until the student contacts CIS and confirms they have deleted the offending files. CIS then restores their access to the Internet. If students are caught a second time, they must attend a disciplinary hearing with a dean, but Sadler said repeat offenses are rare.
"Occasionally we get a second-time offender, but very seldom do we get a third," Sadler said.
The RIAA believes the program of lawsuits and formal complaints has been effective.
"Although a significant online problem clearly persists, particularly on college campuses and with hardcore frequent peer-to-peer users, absent action by the industry, the illegal downloading world would be exponentially worse. The industry's anti-piracy efforts have deterred a sizeable number of largely casual would-be illegal downloaders," wrote Jenni Engebretsen, director of communications at the RIAA, in an e-mail to The Herald.
Some students say they think notices and lawsuits work to stop individual users but do not effectively deter the general population.
"It's effective to an extent because it scares individual people, but it's just not a long-term solution," said Jay Mattis '09, who was caught illegally downloading software last semester.
Ike Sriskandarajah '08 received a notice from CIS after downloading a copy of "Jurassic Park" using BitTorrent, an increasingly popular file-sharing protocol that allows users to download a large file by depending on many users, rather than just one distributor. Protocols using BitTorrent seem to be the most popular among students who have been caught, Sadler said.
Legal programs have been offered on campus as an alternative to illegal file sharing, but their effectiveness remains to be seen.
Last year, the University offered Napster, which was used by about 2,400 students, according to Katherine Wolford, project director of campus life and student services. Ruckus, another program, replaced Napster last semester. About 2,010 people have signed up for the program since its release in the fall - about 34 percent of the students on campus, according to Wolford.
The University is also looking into how to make movies more available on campus. Members of the Undergraduate Council of Students are looking into offering DVD rentals on campus, according to Russell Carey '91 MA'06, vice president for campus life and student services.
But the notices continue to be sent as students download at their own risk.
"It appears to me that our students look at this kind of like jaywalking. They think, 'There's a law against it, but what's the chance I'm going to get caught?' " Sadler said.
