Following is an article developed by OIT that was published on the University of Maryland's Office of Parent and Family Affairs' Web page in November, 2007.

Online Piracy: A Potential Danger of College Life

November 1, 2007

As a Terp parent, there are many issues related to college life that you may already have discussed with your college student: time management, study skills, balancing academics and social life, health and wellness, underage drinking, and the list goes on. Yet, there’s another important topic that is often overlooked: online piracy.

It is unlikely that any college student would walk into a store, shove a CD or DVD into his or her bag, and leave without paying. They’ve been taught since childhood that stealing is unlawful. Just because there is no physical, tangible object involved in illegal file sharing does not make it less of a crime. For young music or movie lovers with computers and high-speed Internet connections, the temptation to share media collections online is common. Technology and peer-to-peer software (e.g., LimeWire) make it easy, and lots of people are doing it; however, online piracy/illegal file sharing is wrong and could cost $3,000 or more to prevent a lawsuit.

File Sharing is Illegal
Reproducing, uploading, downloading, and distributing copyrighted files without the permission of the copyright holder are all classified as copyright infringement, which is a crime under the U.S. Copyright Act. Copyright infringers can be sued for the copyright holder’s statutory damages (from $750 to $30,000 or more per work infringed), as well as the attorney fees required to defend the copyright in court. A recent court judgment awarded copyright holders $222,000 from an individual who infringed copyrights on 24 songs.

Often, students excuse their behavior by saying that specific individuals are unlikely to get caught and punished since so many other people are also participating—a new take on the old safety in numbers adage. But in recent months the Recording Industry Association of America, an organization that represents hundreds of music copyright holders, has expanded its efforts to try and change this attitude.

Over the past several months, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has identified hundreds of individuals at colleges and universities as targets of possible lawsuits for copyright infringement. When individuals who have engaged in illegal file sharing are identified, the RIAA sends letters for the educational institutions to forward to these individuals stating that it has evidence of illegal activities and of the organization’s intent to sue if the alleged violator fails to pay the fine for statutory damages. University of Maryland network users have received 38 of these letters [in 2007]. While most UM network users have settled out of court for $3,000 – $4,000, the university has received subpoenas requesting additional information on individuals who did not settle. If these individuals do not accept future (likely higher) settlement offers, lawsuits may follow. The RIAA has filed suit against a number of students at universities across the country, including here at Maryland. When it comes to illegal file sharing, relying on safety in numbers is no longer wise.

File Sharing is Wrong
At the heart of the issue is the idea of intellectual property. On a college campus, intellectual property is created constantly by professors, researchers, administrators, and students. New literary works, musical compositions, engineering and scientific innovations are the intellectual property of the creator, and each of these creators has the right to decide how the property is published or distributed. They may even have the opportunity to profit from the property’s future use by applying for a copyright or a patent. If your student writes the next great American novel or develops a new, cutting-edge method of producing an alternative fuel source during their studies, he or she would expect to be able to decide how that intellectual property is distributed and used. Everyone who expects his or her own intellectual property rights to be respected has the responsibility to respect the intellectual property rights of others. The same rights apply to all creators, whether they are college students or famous musicians or screenwriters.

In most cases, the music, television shows, and movies that are widely released to the public are copyrighted. This means that they are put into a fixed format which is owned by the copyright holder, and is then made available to the general public in specific mediums—CDs or DVDs for purchase, DVDs for rental, and digital music and video files for downloading through legal services. Acquiring these copyrighted materials through any other means is both ethically wrong and illegal.

File Sharing is Unnecessary
No student needs to resort to illegal behavior to enjoy digital music, television shows, and movies. The university offers its students some legal options, and other options are available elsewhere on the Internet. The Ruckus Network is available for University of Maryland students and offers free access to more than 3 million songs on up to two personal computers or laptops through its subscription service. The songs are available for permanent download at reasonable prices. Ruckus also offers a video service that allows students to watch movies on their computers for a modest fee. Additionally, iTunes U will become available at the university and will offer the Macintosh/iPod user community an alternative legal resource for digital media.

More information about online piracy and its dangers is available on the special PlayFair Web site. This is the hub for a new educational campaign sponsored by the Office of Information Technology to discourage online piracy and encourage the use of the numerous legal alternatives available. The Recording Industry Association of America also offers a guide for parents that can help parents understand the issues related to file sharing.

Don’t let your student be subject to the lawsuits, computer viruses, spyware, and other dangers of online piracy. Please encourage him or her to do what is legal and what is right.