Internet piracy debated

By Peter Hargarten

While the media and software industries introduce new ways to legally obtain digital content, students who pirate argue that illegal downloading is too cheap, easy and prevalent to consider the ethical dilemma.

"The service that provides the most capabilities and ease is probably going to be the service I am most inclined to use," said junior Connor Pihl. "The legality of the service may not be the most decisive factor."

Piracy has long been an important issue for content creators, and new technology has made it easier to share music, movies, software and games over the Internet. According to a 2007 study by the Institute of Policy Innovation, losses from illegal downloading of music amount to $3.7 billion alone in the United States.

Illegal downloading has increased steadily over the last decade, and fear of litigation or punishment has done little to stop it.

College students have been targeted in the battle against infringement, as they have witnessed the advent of high-speed internet, the fall of Napster and the rise of other services to take its place.

The most popular illegal sharing service has been the Napster-like Gnutella network, which is accessed by LimeWire. Individuals simply launch the program and begin downloading files off of other computers hooked into the network. BitTorrent is another popular method for downloading, which allows exponential distribution of data as people download small pieces of a file from different users and simultaneously begin sharing those pieces for others to download.

The record industry estimates that 80 percent of all Internet traffic comes from illegal peer-to-peer file sharing.

One reason for the prevalence of online piracy is its abstract nature. "When you are talking about grabbing a record in a store, you are taking a physical piece of material," said Pihl.

Digital media feels very different and can be obtained with such ease that people don't need to stop and consider it, he said.

Senior Daniel Finfer said he feels the record companies steal from artists, too.

"If you want to talk about ethics concerning music," said Finfer, who is a lead member of a band Post Human Era, "then the real people you want to look at are the record companies. Give artists 20 percent royalties, sign them up for only five records, take away creative controls, and then the band is done."

Finfer said he knows artists must be compensated for their work, but downloading has actually helped musicians distribute their music to a wider audience.

Entrepreneurs have tried to offer their own remedies with Web sites such as Pandora radio.

These sites allow individuals to stream custom radio stations based around an artist or song they already like. Chris Jacobsan*, an Information Technology employee, confessed that sites such as Pandora actually increased his file-sharing activities.

"It introduced me to so many new artists that I would then go out and obtain their albums," he said.

Senior Kayla Silva said she doesn't illegally download.

"Ninety-nine cents a song is not something you should be crying about," she said. "People hear it over and over again that you are stealing, but people don't care because it is still so easy."

Fear of a lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America has had little effect on Santa Clara students.

Jacobsan said he has worried about getting by his Internet service provider, so for security reasons he foregoes the more popular BitTorrent and LimeWire networks. Instead, he uses private message boards that contain direct links to free material.

"It's easy for ISPs to obtain information about you pirating with BitTorrent," said Jacobsan.

The 35,000 lawsuits filed by the RIAA have singled out a fraction of individuals who download music illegally, so students are willing to take the risk online.

Pihl said the legality of copyright infringement "always plays a role in decision making, but when you think about the Internet and the amount of people on, the probability is against the record company."

*Editor's note: One of the names in this story has been changed because of legal concerns.

Contact Peter Hargarten at phargarten@scu.edu.

Front%20Page%20Celebrat%2312C_opt.jpgRuff Riders and fans stormed the court following the men's basketball's 70-52 victory over longtime rival Saint Mary's Saturday night at Leavey Center. See the game story in Sports, page 16.by will danse--the santa clara