Inside:

Dozens of students and staff joined OIT on February 27, 2008 in the Stamp Student Union Atrium to discuss file sharing with an expert panel that included a GRAMMY award-winning artist, other talented musicians, and a university attorney with an expertise in copyright law.

Some students posed tough questions to panelists, while other students presented their individual commentary about the controversial issue at the open microphone, town-hall-styled event.

Sophomore business major and Maryland Music Business Society president Alan VanToai was a forum speaker, advocating for a new business model in the music industry and offering a student voice among the music industry panelists. Cathy Fink, GRAMMY-winning producer, songwriter, and artist, and William Montgomery, a university professor in the School of Music and chair of the University Senate, were both on hand to explain how illegal downloading and file sharing hurts the financial livelihood of professional musicians.

Peter Opere, Director of Campus Sales for Ruckus, described the student benefits of using Ruckus and explained to students how easy it is to download legally with Ruckus since the University of Maryland has an official agreement for the digital entertainment service.

Other forum speakers included Anne Bowden, an attorney at the university with a specialty in copyright law and fair use, Gerry Sneeringer, the university’s Director of IT security, and Amy Ginther, OIT’s Project NEThics coordinator.

“The forum was a great success,” said university Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jeff Huskamp, who moderated the event. “Students wanted answers about downloading and file sharing, and they received answers from guest panelists who presented various perspectives on the core issues of intellectual property and copyright law,” Huskamp concluded.

www.oit.umd.edu/PlayFair/forum2008_recap.html

“Who ever gets caught?” When it comes to illegal file sharing, this laid-back attitude is familiar among many University of Maryland students. With the ease and convenience of technology, file sharing is one of the most popular ways to stay in tune with the latest music, movies, and television shows. However, despite how cheap it seems to be, one 22-year-old Maryland senior can attest that it could have a steep price tag attached.

In her case, she was the recipient of a DCMA complaint, an e-mail notice from Project NEThics telling her that a copyright owner had detected copyright infringement on her IP address. The notice suggested she remove the downloading program she was using, Ares, from her computer. She complied with this request, but says, “By then it was too late. They [the RIAA] had already been following my IP address.” Later, she also received a letter from the RIAA threatening to sue her for copyright infringement unless she paid a settlement fee. It cited 76 of the 500+ mostly R&B and pop songs she had downloaded. She decided not to take the copyright infringement case to court and paid a $3,000 settlement. This student agreed to be interviewed by TechKnow to warn her fellow students of the possible consequences of online piracy.

Q: How did you feel about having to pay $3,000 for this crime?
A: Horrible at first, but there are worse things that could have happened, and I could have been sued for much more so it’s a learning experience.

Q: Did you tell your parents? If so, what was their reaction?
A: They were the first people I called. They were calm and said they would help out but I would have to pay them back eventually.

Q: Do you mind telling us how you raised the money?
A: I asked for donations from family and friends. [That] raised $1,700 and my parents paid $1,300. I was fortunate enough to have parents who were able to help.

Q: Do you still download?
A: Of course not. My computer is probably tapped or something.

Q: What would you say to students that are currently downloading music?
A: If you are downloading, know that you can get caught, and if you don’t have $3,000 or so to pay for it, you may want to think twice about downloading.

There is a definite possibility that if you are caught downloading illegally you could wind up in the same position this student did. In 2007, the RIAA sent 38 similar letters to users of the university’s computer network. Some have reported paying fines as high as $4,000.

You have the power to prevent a situation like this from happening to you. Be smart — download legally. For more information about online piracy and legal alternatives to it, please visit OIT’s PlayFair Web site at www.oit.umd.edu/PlayFair or contact Project NEThics at 301.405.8787 or nethics@umd.edu.