The Student News Site of Texas A&M University - College Station

The Battalion

The Student News Site of Texas A&M University - College Station

The Battalion

The Student News Site of Texas A&M University - College Station

The Battalion

Junior G Wade Taylor IV (4) covers his face after a missed point during Texas A&Ms game against Arkansas on Feb. 20, 2024 at Reed Arena. (Jaime Rowe/The Battalion)
When it rains, it pours
February 24, 2024
Ali Camarillo (2) waiting to see if he got the out during Texas A&Ms game against UIW on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 at Olsen Field. (Hannah Harrison/The Battalion)
Four for four
February 20, 2024
Advertisement
Nancy Plakey-Videla stands in Evans Library on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.(Abdurahman Azeez/The Battalion)
A&M professors discuss Texas border policies, legal clashes with federal government
Cameron Gibson, News Reporter • March 28, 2024

For a few hours, a new law known as Senate Bill 4, or SB4, went into effect on March 20, making crossing the border illegally a state crime.  The...

Advertisement
Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck (53) delivers a pitch during Texas A&M’s game against Arizona State on Friday, March. 1, 2024 at Globe Life Field. (Chris Swann/The Battalion)
Aschenbeck’s extended relief guides A&M to 9-7 win over Auburn
Luke White, Sports Editor • March 28, 2024

Senior LHP Evan Aschenbeck entered the sixth inning of Thursday’s game between Texas A&M baseball and Auburn in a situation that likely...

Advertisement
From feral to fostered
From feral to fostered
Camila Munoz, Life & Arts Writer • March 27, 2024

Texas A&M houses almost 70,000 students and nearly as many cats. The campus is home to a high feral cat population, most notably around Heldenfels...

Graphic of Jared Shult on TikTok
Jamming with Jared
March 27, 2024
The EV team displaying their car on March 24, 2024 at Aggie Park.
‘Rollout 2024’
March 25, 2024
Advertisement
Should an app that sexualizes kids still be permitted within the United States? Opinion columnist Bj Barnes says it’s time to ditch TikTok. (Graphic by Ethan Mattson/The Battalion)
Opinion: Tick tock, TikTok
Bj Barnes, Opinion Columnist • March 28, 2024

The bipartisan bill that rocketed to the top of national headlines after passing the House 352-65 could spell doom for everyone’s favorite...

Tech Ethics

Last summer, a 29-year-old computer engineer began a 46-month sentence in federal prison, convicted of charges that many resnet-surfing students at Texas A&M could easily find themselves charged with as well.
The crime is digital copyright infringement, and the criminal is anyone who downloads or distributes illegal copies of copyrighted digital media, a commodity that has become the cheapest form of entertainment — it’s free.
Yet the crime is so commonplace that manyw ho commit it don’t even realize it. After all, downloading a movie, a music album or an artist’s entire repertoire only involves a movement of the mouse and a quick double-click. Computer users will continue to violate copyright laws as long as the chance of getting caught is as slim as it is now.
“A number of people don’t even know (this type of file sharing) is illegal,” said Jeff McCabe, Associate Director of Information Technology Issues in A&M’s Computing and Information Services Department. “Part of it is an awareness problem, and part of it is that people just say ‘I don’t care.'”
The government has taken action with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the Recording Industry Association of America is on a rampage against those who sell bootlegged music CDs and DVD movies, yet it is still incredibly easy to get a hold of illegal music. KaZaa, Direct Connect and Hobbes are common utilities used for peer-to-peer file sharing. All are readily available and all are perfectly legal to use. These utilities provide an excellent interface for file sharing between computers on campus and on the Internet as well because of their simplicity. Users easily copy their CDs or DVDs to their computers and share the contraband.
These utilities contain disclaimers that warn against distributing copyrighted material. A user can search for a music file, but it is impossible to discern which files are free to distribute and which files are illegal copies. Basically, anything goes.
McCabe holds that even though copyright violations are easy to commit, there is really no excuse for them to occur.
“You could go out and buy a gun, and rob a place with it (fairly easily). You could copy music and share it, also,” McCabe said.
Yet getting online and double-clicking a file to download does not seem so wrong to those who do it. More than 2.6 billion songs are illegally downloaded in the United States each month, according to musicunited.org, a music industry organization that speaks out against digital music piracy. Music listeners clearly do not liken music piracy to armed robbery.
The United States government does, however.
“According to the DMCA, you shouldn’t be circumventing any copyright,” McCabe said.
Each of the 2.6 billion songs downloaded every month carries with it a $30,000 fine and a possible federal prison stay, according to a CIS information page. Students or other users may not be trying to break the law when downloading music files, but ignorance is never a defense.
How then can people be expected to comply with laws that they do not know exist? Ignorance in numbers leads to violations in numbers as well. A strong push against piracy should be taken if users are expected to quit stealing copyrighted material.
CIS posts an information page outlining the consequences of illegal file sharing deep on its Web site. File sharing utilities such as KaZaa and Direct Connect mention in documentation that users should not share copies of files they do not own. Yet illegal file sharing is rampant on campus — and around the world — because of its ease and appeal. Until some accountability is introduced, media thieves have no reason to quit trafficking in free information — the cheapest commodity in the world.

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Battalion

Your donation will support the student journalists of Texas A&M University - College Station. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Battalion

Comments (0)

All The Battalion Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *