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USF KEEPS WATCH ON STUDENTS' MUSIC

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 20, 2008

Updated: 03/20/2008 12:16 am

TAMPA - Students at the University of South Florida trying to illegally download music or movies should know that lots of eyes are watching.

The world's major record labels are watching, and have sued 13 USF students in federal court, claiming those students pirated music. Dozens more lawsuits could follow.

USF also is watching. As soon as students run a file-sharing program such as Limewire or BitTorrent on the campus computer network, the university now directs them to a page where they must promise not to use the site for illicit reasons.

That might put USF ahead of a bill pending in Congress that would penalize colleges and universities for failing to prevent those illegal acts.

None of it comes cheaply, however, for the university or for students.

Sixty-four USF students collectively have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle music piracy complaints with record labels. USF has paid $75,000 to set up a computer program that detects when a student runs file-sharing software, and it plans to spend as much annually to run the program.

The costs for USF, however, have resulted in some benefits. A year ago, record labels placed USF students among the worst offenders of music piracy nationwide. USF now is off the recording industry's hit list, a sign that the university's efforts to thwart illegal downloads are working.

That's little relief to the students facing a federal lawsuit, however.

"There's a lot of fear, a lot of confusion, and a lot of anger," said Michael Wasylik, a local lawyer for several USF students whom record labels have sued for thousands in damages. "This is a very real threat."

About a year ago, the Recording Industry Association of America started ferreting out students it found downloading hundreds of songs off file-sharing Web sites without paying for them. They did that by isolating the Internet Protocol addresses used to download the music.

The association then asked the university to forward letters to the students registered to those addresses. Each student received the same ominous message: Pay $3,000 to settle the copyright infringement claim or risk an expensive lawsuit.

During the past year, 124 USF students received those letters, according to the association's figures. Of those, 79 didn't initially settle, so the record labels asked the federal court in Tampa to subpoena their names in what's called a "John Doe" complaint.

Rather than fight their cases, a few John Does later settled for amounts that reached as high as $5,500. Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the association, said that 64 USF students have settled with the record labels that threatened lawsuits.

Those labels, however, managed to get the names of 13 USF students and sued them in Tampa's federal court.

The Warnings Go Out

Realizing the trouble students faced, USF leaders began their education campaign. They repeated the message - through e-mail, through orientation, through residence hall advisers - that downloading songs without paying for them was illegal.

Then they spent the money on software that detects when anyone on the campus computer network visits a file-sharing Web site.

Other schools, including some in Florida, have used the same software and have kicked students off their network for varying amounts of time when they visit a file-sharing site.

The message USF students receive is less harsh. University leaders say they recognize that scholars and students have legitimate reasons to share research files. The software suspends students from the network once they run a file-sharing program and directs them to a Web page allowing them back on if they promise not to illegally swap music or movies.

If the university finds that any of those students later broke that promise - through a letter from the RIAA, for example - they could face discipline as severe as suspension.

"We're letting them know it's pretty serious at this point in time," said Alex Campoe, USF's associate director of academic computing. "Do you really want something like this on your record when you can buy the song for 99 cents?"

The message may be working.

In February 2007, the RIAA sent the university 150 letters complaining of copyright violations. Last month, the university received only 16.

Congress Gets Involved

University leaders say the tools they have adopted should satisfy federal lawmakers, who are debating a bill that would hold schools accountable when students illegally swap music and movies.

House and Senate leaders are debating the bill's language this year, but the measure also would require that schools offer free, legal music alternatives to students, something USF also has done.

About 8,000 USF students have signed on to the Ruckus Network, which enables them to tap a free library of 3 million songs. The only catch: they can't download the music to iPods.

Not everyone favors forcing universities to take such steps. The time and money schools spend on installing software blocking illegal downloads could be spent on educational needs, said Steve Worona, director of policy and networking programs for Educause, a nonprofit group that focuses on information technology uses in higher education.

Considering the planning for such tools at colleges nationwide, "you're talking about tens of millions of dollars," Worona said.

In a written statement, Duckworth at the RIAA called the legislation "a positive and useful step."

"The extensive theft of copyrighted works on campus networks is a mutual problem and a comprehensive, dedicated strategy is mutually beneficial," Duckworth said.

Meanwhile, dozens more USF students could soon find their names on a federal court docket.

Wasylik, the lawyer representing many of them, has used an argument that lawyers across the nation have since adopted: The recording industry is using deceptive and illegal tactics by hiring private investigators to invade private computer networks. The subsequent settlement offer represents a campaign of extortion.

"And they're using the court system as an investigative arm," Wasylik said.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at aemerson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8285.

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