Entertainment industry representatives have been asking colleges, including the University of Virginia, to do something about the use of programs that allow file sharing like Kazaa, Morpheus and Audiogalaxy.
The entertainment industry sent letters to universities, including the University, asking them to take on the responsibility of preventing file sharing.
But students downloading free music is not a major concern for University officials, President John T. Casteen III said.
"These letters are not a major topic of conversation among college and university presidents, at least some of whom see the letters as an effort to get colleges and universities to take on the job of defending claimed property rights that belong to third parties," Casteen said.
It is already against University policy to use programs like Kazaa, Morpheus and Audiogalaxy. This policy is included in the "Responsible Computing Handbook" that students are expected to read in order to pass the online computing quiz they take in order to gain use of their e-mail account.
Morpheus and Kazaa "are frequently used by students and take up an awful lot of bandwidth on the network," said Robert E. Reynolds, ITC vice president and chief information officer.
University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said the University does not look for particular files when it monitors the network. Instead, they try to find out what is making the network slow.
"The school looks for a particular machine which is complained about" by entertainment organizations, she said.
The Motion Picture Association of America, for example, might identify a campus computer that shares files extensively. The MPAA would alert the school to the situation and recommend steps of action, Dudley said.
The University will conduct follow-up research on the computers flagged by entertainment companies, Dudley said.
"Sometimes students whose accounts have been used for copyright violations were not at fault," Dudley said. "Someone hacked into their computer and used their ID."
The University sometimes takes punitive actions against offenders, and if file sharing continues from the same IP address, then computing privileges can be revoked. But this rarely occurs, said John Shedden, University Judiciary Committee senior counsel.
"Technically, the student would be brought up on honor charges, but it would have to be something the community would consider serious enough to take action against," Shedden said.
He added that the same rules apply to all students regardless of location on or off Grounds.
Dudley said the University offers education for students about the programs and file sharing to help eliminate occurrences. She added that the University currently is not planning any further actions to prevent file sharing.
University students have differing views on the subject.
Some said they believe pirating music is stealing what is rightfully owned by the artist.
"It robs artists the right to sell their own music," first-year graduate student Victoria Bizzelle said.
Others, however, said they believe that it is beneficial to the artist and music lovers.
File sharing "creates competition between the artists; they really have to put some work into it. They will have to come up with something innovative and new," third-year College student Jonathan Wright said. "Why would I buy a CD when I can download the three songs I like?"
Third-year College student Okem Nwogu agreed. "It gives the underprivileged consumer an opportunity to listen to music which he probably wouldn't be able to listen to. As long as the individual isn't massively producing CD's for his own benefit, it should be fine."
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