Ruling does not affect students’ downloads
Although ajudge ruled
in favor of Morpheus and
Grokster, University students’
file sharing has not increased
Ali Shaughnessy
Environment/Science/Technology Reporter
File-sharing services have come
a long way since the start of Nap
ster in 1999. Since then, both the
recording and movie industry have
been looking for ways to stop it,
and students have been looking for
ways to expand it.
The latest battle resulted in a vic
tory for file sharing when a Los An
geles judge ruled file-sharing services
Morpheus and Grokster could not
control what is traded using their re
spective programs and therefore
cannot be held liable. The Motion
Picture Association of America and
the Recording Industry of America
filed the lawsuit and have vowed to
appeal the court’s decision.
Student use of file sharing pro
grams has not increased at the Uni
versity, however, despite the ruling
in favor of Morpheus and Grokster.
Residence Hall Computing Ser
vices Coordinator Norm Myers said
the recent rulings have not affect
ed the uploading and downloading
traffic on campus, adding that be
cause it is close to the end of the
school year, fewer and fewer stu
dents are uploading.
“We’re seeing less because we’ve
talked to so many students already,
and they are educated by now,” he
said. “It’s pretty peaceful.”
Some say file sharing has be
come a way of life in the residence
halls on campus. University stu
dent Erica Reid said she has been
using the file-sharing program
Kazaa for the past year.
“It’s nice, because I don’t have to
pay money for a whole CD when I
just want one song,” she said. Reid
added that since the launch of Ap
ple’s iTunes Music Store, a service
that allows users to download indi
vidual songs for 99 cents per track,
she would be willing to switch from
file sharing to iTunes.
File sharing first took off in May
1999 when Northeastern Universi
ty freshman Shawn Fanning found
ed Napster, an, easy peer-to-peer
service that allowed users to trade
music and movies online. After the
creation of Napster, other similar
programs emerged, such as Kazaa
and Grokster.
In February 2001, after a flurry of
lawsuits were brought against Nap
ster by multiple record labels and
Metallica, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals found Napster knew its
users were violating copyright law,
and Napster agreed to remove a list
of songs from its server.
Myers said the University started
monitoring file sharing within the res
idence halls three to four years ago,
and while students are allowed to
download files, uploading is forbidden.
Myers said that when computing
services finds students who have
been uploading files, they call the
students and ask them to turn it off.
However, if the University gets a for
mal complaint from the music or
record industry, the students will get
their Internet jack turned off until
they can prove they are no longer
uploading, and they will be sent to
student conduct.
Contact the reporter
atalishaughnessy@dailyemerald.com.
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Some people believe file sharing has become a way of life in the residence halls on
campus, although fewer students are participating toward the end of the school year.
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