AT&T announced recently that it is considering filtering online content to discourage illegal file-sharing, and the University would consider taking similar action with the ResNet system if there were technology available to do so, according to Greg Sparks, director of network and services systems.

But Sparks said there is currently no technology that would be able to distinguish between legitimate content and illegal content, and the University would not implement any filters “unless we could do it in a way that wasn’t blocking legitimate content.”

“We have not yet seen any that we’re comfortable with,” he said.

The University would not want to interfere with normal online traffic, he said.

“Our stance has been to ensure that we don’t end up in a role of Internet censorship,” Sparks said.

And with AT&T’s announcement, Sparks said the company is not so much looking into monitoring customers’ usage, but “blocking what they see as illegal copyright content.”

“I don’t know why it’s a challenge [to not illegally download],” he said. “We’re trying to educate folks of the ramifications of these actions.”

The only instance in which the University would acquire a student’s history online is if law enforcement officials had asked for it, Sparks said, as in cases of illegal downloading or child pornography.

“We do have tools to allow us to do that,” he said.

Sparks said he emphasizes that downloading copyrighted content is theft, and the recording and film industries are not taking the issue lightly.

“[The RIAA is] generally seeking damages in the neighborhood of thousands of dollars per song [downloaded],” he said.

According to Sparks, file-sharing can also harm the University’s reputation, as N.C. State has appeared on lists of universities with high numbers of RIAA offenders.

The main efforts to prevent students from downloading copyrighted content without permission have come through education on the issue during student and employee orientations.

Matt McCoy, a senior in horticultural science, said illegal downloading seems to be declining.

“I do Ruckus or WalMart.com, because it’s usually cheap,” he said.

According to McCoy, his devotion to Christianity has kept him from file-sharing.

And with the amount of college students involved in music, he said, they can empathize with musicians instead of taking music for free.

Students who use the Linux operating system will also be discouraged from illegal downloading, according to Ed Anderson, a sophomore in computer science.

With Linux, Anderson said, all extra software is free, so there would not be a motivation to share copyrighted software online.

Nonetheless, Sparks said students still download illegally, and when they do, they risk facing penalties.

“A lot of folks do get caught and a lot end up having to pay a pretty hefty fine,” Sparks said.