Free downloads costly
for U.S. music lovers
by Sandy Stamper
south news editor

   Music pirates are about to walk the plank since the Recording Industry Asso-ciation of America has recently reignited its legal campaign against online piracy.
   The RIAA represents major record labels such as Vivendi, Sony, Time Warner, EMI and Bartelsmann.
   This round of lawsuits targets 532 people accused of illegally swapping music protected by copyright laws on the Internet.
   The lawsuits are aimed at individuals who have downloaded on average 800 or more songs off the Internet.
   Many college students upload music and make it available to others on the Internet through file-sharing programs such as Kazaa and iMesh.
Ernesto Castillo, a South Campus drama student, compares downloading music to speeding.
   “Everybody speeds, and nobody cares about it. It is just a matter of getting caught. I think they [music companies] should have alternate ways of dealing with this problem,” he said.
   TCC South Campus does have a policy that students are not allowed to download music from particular sites, and employees walk around to monitor student behavior when it comes to the computers.
   Dr. Theodore Drake, South Campus library director, said that the computers are set up so students can download things only to a disk or the A drive. Since most music files are too large to be able to save in this format, downloading is not a problem for the South Campus library staff.
   However, downloading music illegally has become a major problem for the industry.
   Furthermore, recent lawsuits are making students and everyone aware that the music industry is striking back through lawsuits.
   Three of these lawsuits were filed in a New York City federal court, and the fourth was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
   RIAA President Cary Sherman told CBS reporter David McGuire about the intentions of the RIAA toward these pirates.
   “The message to illegal file sharers should be as clear as ever: we can and will continue to file lawsuits,” he said.
   The decision to initiate these lawsuits began after industry officials noticed the drastic drop of album sales from $943 million in 2000 to $803 million in 2002.
   These lawsuits are the first since the Dec. 19 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act does not grant the RIAA subpoena power to obtain names of people believed to be sharing music online from certain Internet providers, particularly Verizon.
   This time the RIAA is suing “John Doe” customers by using Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses of suspected pirates.
   Sherman told Ted Bridis with the Associated Press about people who download music.
   “ Nobody likes playing the heavy. There comes a time when you have to stand up and take appropriate action,” he said.
   Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota
   Republican who chairs a Senate investigations committee as well as hearings on digital piracy, criticized the latest round of lawsuits to Ben Berkowitz of the Associated Press.
   “ The decision by the RIAA to rely primarily on the fear of the courts and litigation to pummel (peer-to-peer) users is unfortunate and misdirected,” he said.
   However, the RIAA does offer an amnesty program to help individuals who may be sued.
   As stipulations, the RIAA will promise not to sue individuals who participate in this program in exchange for their admission and pledge to delete the songs off their computers.
   However, this option does not apply to people who are already targets of legal action.
   The RIAA has settled 233 of the 382 lawsuits filed last year with a $3,000 average settlement.
   U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person’s computer.
   Sherman elaborates on alternate ways of still being able to download music and the reasoning behind these lawsuits.
   “ Legal online music services are delivering a high-quality, consumer-friendly experience, and they’re attracting new fans. But they shouldn’t have to compete with businesses based on illegal downloading.
   “ That’s why we are sending a clear message that downloading or sharing music from a peer-to-peer network without authorization is illegal; it can have consequences, and it undermines the creative future of music itself,” he said.
   More information is available at the Recording Industry Association of America’s Web site at www.riaa.com.
   For now, the advice to students is to follow the law and avoid illegal downloading of music from the Internet.