Thousands of Syracuse University students have found a way to break the law in the comfort of their own dorm room: illegally downloading files on their computers.

Computing and Media Services has continued its efforts to crack down on illegal file-sharing on campus. Although CMS is trying to prevent many students from downloading material, 63 percent of the student population illegally shares music, movies and other files through the Internet, according to a study by CMS and the School of Information Studies last fall.

‘There is a significantly high number of students on campus annually who illegally share files,’ said Deborah Nosky, manager of IT communications and professional development. ‘Once you register for ResNet, illegal file-sharing is not condoned. Our policy hasn’t changed.’Students who illegally share files are becoming more at risk of running into legal problems if they are caught. Often times, the Recording Industry Association of America locates students who are downloading illegally and informs the university of the problem.

‘CMS is able to track down students who are sharing files in one of two ways,’ Nosky said. ‘[Students] are downloading such large files that it slows the network traffic in their building or the RIAA sends us an e-mail.’

After discovering a student has downloaded illegally, CMS will locate the student’s computer through his or her IP address – a series of numbers that identifies a particular connection to the Internet – and they will shut the computer down.

In the past, CMS would simply disconnect the student’s port, but the department realized that students were still finding other ways to connect to the Internet using their computers.

‘Now we regulate computer addresses and shut down any computer you own,’ Nosky said.

After a student’s computer is shut out from the Internet completely, the student must also make a visit to the CMS office. Once at the office, the student will receive a speech about the seriousness of illegal downloads. After the speech, the student must sign a form indicating that he or she will not illegally share files again. The signed form is sent to the RIAA, where they keep track of the student’s usage of downloads. In most cases, the situation will be brought to Judicial Affairs, where the student’s final punishment will be made.

The consequences of getting caught with illegal downloads can be severe, but the risk can be lessened depending on what a student downloads. Since students can be caught based on how large their files are, a smaller file may cause less attention. This can mean the difference between downloading a three-hour movie or a three-minute song.

In addition, having few shared files on a computer will lessen the chance that the RIAA or CMS will be able to track down that computer.Illegal downloading has not only been a problem for students at SU. Many universities have dealt with similar situations where students tried to find free software through the Internet. Some schools, though, are attempting to change this problem.

This semester, Cornell University, along with seven other universities across the country, has worked out a deal with Napster to offer free subscriptions to their students so they can download material safely.

The program gives students at Cornell access to a 750,000 song library and online radio stations. This is a new concept that is attempting to work along with the students’ desire to download software.

Although offering download services to SU students is not an option yet, with the rise of universities offering these programs, it may be only a matter of time before Syracuse University finds another way to prevent students from getting burned.

Published on August 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm