The Download Dilemma

Reversing that mind-set is no easy task.

One convicted “pirate,” UCLA electrical engineering student Diana Li, discussed her experience in an interview with the Daily Bruin. “I don’t think I’m a lawbreaker,” Li said. She considered her penalty, about $4,000 in settlement and attorney fees, severe for the few hundred files she was sharing. And she said she still believes that students should be able to share music online — but she said she would not do it again.

Sherry Lansing, a UC Regent and former head of Paramount Pictures, argues that when students download material for free, they are not acting with malicious intent.

“I don’t think students intend to do anything illegal,” she says. “They just don’t know that to creative artists, taking their work without paying for it is like stealing their souls. I don’t think the kids want to do this.”

For Lansing, the key to solving the problem is education. At UCLA, learning about copyright infringement begins on the first day of orientation when a representative from the Dean of Students’ office discusses illegal file-sharing and the sanctions violators may face. The effort is then reinforced by a “Share Right” campaign, with posters distributed in the fall to residence hall common areas. And twice a year, Davis and UCLA Dean of Students Bob Naples send a letter to students to reinforce the message that piracy violates the Student Code of Conduct. UCLA also invites guests to discuss the issue. Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA, visited the campus last November and held a question-and-answer session on file-sharing.

UCLA isn’t alone in tackling the problem of student peer-to-peer sharing, of course, but its stance does appear more evenhanded than most. The University of Florida’s policy, for example, has been accused of being “draconian,” following the switch-on in 2003 of a program called Icarus, which stands for Integrated Computer Application for Recognizing User Services.

Icarus, which has been renamed cGridb, blocks all illegal file-sharing programs, period. Gator students have no access to any legal peer-to-peer file-sharing programs unless they apply for a fair-use exemption. A company that UF has a stake in holds the license for Icarus and is offering it to other colleges and universities. Robert Bird, Icarus’ creator and the UF coordinator of network services, dismisses criticism that his program is unnecessarily restrictive and says that the university has not received any notices or subpoenas since the program started. As for student rights, he says any student can request an exemption for academic or fair-use purposes, but none have done so.

“The electronic free speech front has misinterpreted what we are doing here,” Bird says. “They have chosen to turn a blind eye to what the software does. UF has taken a strong stand and says no, this is wrong and you need to be responsible.”

But David Walker, director of advanced technology in the UC Office of the President, says the issue is not free speech but a university’s proper role.

“We don’t feel that we should be the policemen, which is essentially the role Florida has taken with Icarus,” he says. “We really don’t like the notion that we are watching what people are doing on our communications network. People’s privacy is important to us.” Moreover, critics counter that Icarus can leave universities more vulnerable to lawsuits. Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C.–based advocacy group that defends digital rights, argues that universities are best served if they are neutral carriers of information.

“Once you start to act like a gatekeeper, you assume a lot of liability,” she notes. “If someone sends a threatening note to another student, you should have stopped it. You are opening up a hornet’s nest and you don’t want to be in that position.”

Both the RIAA and the MPAA deny that they pressure universities to do anything. But Rich Taylor, senior vice president of external affairs and education for the movie trade group, isn’t shy about expressing his opinion.

“People like to toss the word ‘draconian’ out about Icarus, but when [UF] put it in place, it made life better and easier,” he says. “What people get upset about is they realize the game is up when [universities] move toward [that approach].”

Published Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM