Stop stealing my music!
College downloading policy provokes animosity on campus

March 5, 2004
by Ellen Kulieke
Staff Reporter

In the fall of 2003, Albion College responded to the crime of downloading and sharing music off of the Internet with what some consider to be to extreme measures. If students are caught downloading and sharing music they are fined $200.

The college has been addressing music-sharing for over five years. After sending campus-wide e-mails and letters to The Pleiad, they have instated the $200 penalty.

“I’m afraid there’s a student here who’s going to get a serious fine,” VanAken said. “A student in Southfield spent $15,000 in court.

Kenneth Snyder, director of campus safety compares the penalty to that of losing your keys. It’s a deterrent and helps cover the cost of the staff’s time in addressing the situation.

The process begins when the finance department receives an official recording notification from a file-sharing company such as Kazaa or Gnutella. This notification contains the required information, namely which computer, IP address, user name, and which copyrighted songs. It is then IT’s obligation to track the IP address to a room, destroy the illegal files, and defragment the user’s computer.

Some students think that the fee is an excessive punishment.

“The school doesn’t even get in trouble,” said Vince Rossi, Fraser sophomore.

“The fine is to make it so it has more teeth to it,” VanAken said. “Not to be mean or hurtful, but what else are we supposed to do?”

Other institutions have ways to avoid this costly situation for students.

“At Penn State they give Napster to their students for free,” said Greg Sheldon, Royal Oak junior. “Why can’t Albion do something like that?”

According to Napster.com, one person can join Napster for $10 a month. With Albion’s 1,550 students, that amounts to $186,000 a year. This is more than double the amount that the college currently pays in response to the downloading issue. Perhaps the administration would be willing to spring for the service in lieu of the inconvenience and person-hours.

Whether or not such proposals are addressed, there is something students can do to avoid the hefty fee.

“Although both are illegal, the real issue is people sharing the files, not downloading,” VanAken said. “If you’re going to do that stuff, turn the sharing off.”