With great technology, comes great accessibility to information. And responsibility. Interim Provost Warwick Arden warned students again how severe it is to trade music and movies with peer-2-peer file sharing. We have heard this warning on the news and at school, all the way back to high school. Apparently, there are still people who haven’t got the message.
Within the last year, the University received copyright infringement letters. This is a large number of notices, which indicates a significant body of students. N.C. State’s network is monitored due to the rampant amount of illegal sharing. This is not something students should take lightly. Just because we have access to the files doesn’t suddenly give us the right to take them.
We may be in the generation where getting what we want is as easy as finding it, but we cannot forget the legal ramifications of our actions. Many students may be surprised to know they are not anonymous on the Internet. Their IP address is still in the packets of data that bring their files back to their computer and authorities can follow this number back to the network where the computer is. This is how companies like the RIAA track down students and fine them thousands of dollars. This isn’t a story or what could be, this is very real.
After seven years of dealing with students’ run in with illegal file sharing, University Student Legal Services has a system in place to help students who have gotten in legal trouble for peer-to-peer sharing. Lucky for students, legal services provides their services for free and allows students to settle their fines in anonymity and in a payment plan. This doesn’t mean students are completely in the clear or should think sharing music or movies is okay.
University Student Legal Services has saved students a lot of trouble with their policy, but students should take it as a warning. Legal services only handles this issue for a while. Repeat offenders will be taken to Office of Student Conduct and could be suspended from the University. It may seem harsh, but it is a fitting punishment. Not only are students stealing, they are reflecting poorly on the University and causing extra work for all involved.
Not all peer-to-peer sharing is bad. It can be used as a simple tool to quickly transfer files between students who are working on a project or sharing information between departments. But, sharing illegal information is abusing this critical technology. Students must remember what they transfer and how it’s used makes all the difference.
