New hardware introduced in January and currently used at two
universities may put an end to illegal music downloads among
college students.
The hardware, called CopySense Network Appliance, can be used to
identify copyrighted songs and to block those songs from being
downloaded on peer-to-peer networks.
“Basically it’s the digital equivalent of a human
ear. It listens to content, “˜hears’ it, and then
generates a unique digital fingerprint,” said Roland
Woodcock, a spokesman for Audible Magic Corporation, the makers of
the new device.
Central Washington University is one of two universities using
the hardware on a trial basis. The second university did not want
to be named, said Ikezoye, the chief executive officer for Audible
Magic.
Additionally, a couple of other unnamed universities have
purchased the hardware for use on their campuses, Ikezoye
added.
UCLA officials will see a demonstration of CopySense later this
month, though university officials want some questions answered
about issues such as student privacy before they consider the
hardware, said Jim Davis, associate vice chancellor of information
technology.
“We’ve been tracking the product, and it is our
intent to evaluate it and understand it in detail,” Davis
said.
Privacy advocates have questioned whether CopySense violates
privacy laws because of its ability to take a digital
“fingerprint” of files.
Ikezoye said such worries are unfounded because the new hardware
comes with two different versions, one of them aimed at maintaining
the privacy of those using the peer-to-peer downloading
networks.
One version, geared mainly towards businesses, will be used to
identify individual downloading behavior by tracking IP addresses,
which are unique to every computer involved in downloading
copyrighted files.
“Higher education institutions are more interested in the
second version, which does not report on individual usage but just
blocks file traffic,” Ikezoye said.
Blocking peer-to-peer networks at the university level always
has been plagued with difficulties.
“The one way you can block peer-to-peer sharing of music
is (to) block all peer-to-peer sharing, but there are a lot of
legitimate reasons for peer-to-peer networking, so it results in
overkill,” said Christine Borgman, a professor and chair of
the information studies department.
Eugene Volokh, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, said the
university may choose to block the downloading of copyrighted music
files ““ because it owns the network ““ while not barring
access to other useful information.
“If a university decides to block access to racist or
communist material, for example, then that might raise a question
of academic freedom ““ but not with copyrighted songs,”
Volokh said.
Ikezoye said this perceived overkill would not present a problem
for CopySense users, as the new hardware can be configured three
different ways.
One setting would block all peer-to-peer network traffic, making
it impossible to trade files over the network.
Another setting would block only copyrighted content or any
content specifically designated by the hardware owners, and the
third would monitor the network without blocking downloads.
This flexibility of use will allow universities to continue
sharing information over their networks while protecting
copyrighted files, Ikezoye added.
“It provides a very good balance, for a university to be
able to block copyrighted files download while also allowing
peer-to-peer network trading to go on,” Ikezoye said.
UCLA does not monitor its networks for the purpose of
discovering potentially illegal activities, but it does pursue a
set of ongoing initiatives geared toward protecting copyrighted
files.
Those initiatives include educating students on copyright laws
and the possible sanctions against known violators of those
laws.
UCLA also prioritizes Web and e-mail traffic over file-sharing
to keep total network traffic below a certain cap, a practice which
is common throughout the University of California and other
universities.
UCLA also will be embarking on an educational campaign to make
students more aware of the possible consequences of illegal
file-sharing, Davis said.
Some anti-piracy organizations are saying this attitude of
education might be most beneficial toward curbing the spread of
downloads of copyrighted files.
“I hope that universities play a role in the education of
their students about the importance of intellectual
property,” said Ron Roecker, a spokesman for the Recording
Academy.
He added that his organization does not promote a Big Brother
role in regard to copyrighted music downloads, preferring to remain
primarily an education organization.
The Recording Industry Association of America, however, has been
taking a much more proactive role in recent months, suing hundreds
of people ““ including college students ““ who have
downloaded copyrighted files over the course of the last several
months.
Ikezoye said the new hardware might be a way to manage
copyrighted downloads without lawsuits.
“Peer-to-peer networks are a great technology, a great way
for a community to get together, but we need to balance (them) with
the rights of the creative person who does not want (his or her)
things to be out there,” Ikezoye said.
With reports from Charles Proctor, Bruin senior
staff.