Schools step up efforts to combat campus piracy

At WSU, a student caught downloading illegal content could  face suspension.

Universities must halt digital piracy on campus or risk losing federal funding

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By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer Updated 1:36 AM Monday, August 30, 2010

DAYTON — Advocates for musicians and filmmakers are become more aggressive in pursuing people who “share” their intellectual property by increasingly sending notices to the Internet service providers who serve “pirates.”

In 2007, 16 University of Dayton students learned about piracy and illegal file sharing the hard way. The Recording Industry Association of America subpoenaed records from the university and threatened legal action forcing a $3,000-each out of court settlement.

“It got a lot of attention on campus,” said Thomas D. Skill, UD associate provost and chief information officer. “We use every possible avenue to communicate (the dangers of piracy) to students.”

Many students who get caught plead ignorance, school officials say, and typically they do not re-offend.

Nevertheless, colleges locally and across the country are stepping up efforts to stop the illegal downloading of music and films in order to comply with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. Schools that do not make an effort face the lose of eligibility for federal student aid and research grants.

School penalties for students caught downloading illegal content range from verbal reprimands to suspension from school and loss of Internet access for those few repeat offenders. “It is a progressive discipline policy where we try to use education first,” said Gary Dickstein, Wright State University director of community affairs and student conduct.

Schools use a wide array of methods to stop students from using school Internet connections to steal, but those in charge of Web security admit piracy methods continue to evolve. University of Dayton and Miami University both block peer-to-peer programs and websites while WSU uses a monitoring software.

“It’s not perfect,” Mike Natale, Internet security manager for Wright State University, said about Audible Magic, the anti-piracy software the school uses. “They have learned to get around it. The technology is getting more complex.”

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