The University of California and California State University
systems last week selected Cdigix, a provider of legal digital
media, to offer broadband-based digital entertainment to campuses
that decide to use it, according to a CSU press release.
The selection is part of an effort to respond to student demands
as well as curb illegal file sharing on university networks, though
the agreement between the UC and the company does not require
individual campuses to use this service.
The UC and CSU systems established minimum requirements to use
as a baseline to determine which service provider campuses would
like to sign a contract with in the coming months, said Jonathan
Curtiss, manager of technological development for student and
campus affairs at UCLA.
According to UC data, the UC and CSU issued a joint request in
2005 for proposals to online digital media providers in order to
secure competitive choices for campuses that choose to offer such
services.
In June, four services ““ Napster, Cdigix, Sony and Mindawn
““ were selected as candidates that each campus could choose.
The UC is still negotiating with the other providers.
Regardless of which providers each campus decides to contract
with, there must be some consistency among the schools, such as
price, Curtiss said.
The company, based in Colorado, charges $3 per month for its
subscription music services and $5.99 for its video services.
UCLA has not determined which service they would like to use,
though it would take longer to establish subscription services
because they require more hardware that would have to be installed
on campus, Curtiss said.
Such digital media providers will be available to all UCLA
students at a special student rate still to be determined. UCLA
will not be subsidizing the cost of such services, Curtiss
said.
Students will be able to join as many of the providers as they
want to and will be billed accordingly by each company rather than
through their BAR account on URSA.
Currently, anyone can contact any server and pay to download
music, but it would be at a retail rate. As soon as UCLA signs a
contract with a vendor, a special student rate will be determined
at which they could pay for the same services.
The student rate would be available to anyone who has a
connection to Bruin Online, meaning the media providers would not
be limited to students living on-campus, Curtiss said.
He said that UCLA is in no way receiving any benefits by
providing such services to students.
“It’s only to benefit students,” Curtiss
said.
The agreement with Cdigix is the latest attempt by the UC to
deal with illegal file sharing on its campuses and the legal
consequences that follow.
Several weeks ago, the Recording Industry Association of
America, which represents major record labels, subpoenaed UCLA to
release the names of five students who were illegally file
sharing.
Those five students have been notified, but because such
information is confidential, their names have not been released to
the public, said Judy Lin, a UCLA spokeswoman.
Those students were part of a series of lawsuits filed by the
RIAA against 91 university students for illegal copyright
infringement. Seven of the 91 university students were from
UCLA.
This was the first time that UCLA students were the recipients
of such legal action.
“UCLA is taking very seriously the law where it’s
illegal for students to exchange electronic media without paying
for it,” Curtiss said.
Adoption of a legal downloading service like Cdigix would be the
first time UCLA has offered its students a specific alternative to
illegal file sharing.
More than 50 colleges and universities in the United States
offer licensed music services to their students, according to the
RIAA.
Under the Federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act, UCLA has
received copyright infringement notices from the RIAA of IP
addresses that have illegally shared files.
UCLA does not monitor students’ Internet activities and is
only made aware of copyright infringements when notices are
received from the RIAA, Curtiss said.
Upon receiving a copyright infringement claim, the offending
machine is identified and put into quarantine.
The “quarantine process” that was launched in April
2004, shuts the offending computer off from external or Internet
networks while still allowing access to the internal network that
includes school sites such as MyUCLA and URSA, which allows for
students to continue many of their educational activities, Lin
said.
In quarantine, students are blocked from illegal file sharing.
In order for access to the external network, the student must sign
an agreement to remove the allegedly infringing material.
The agreement is not an admission of guilt, Lin said.
Upon signing the agreement, Internet access is restored within
24 hours.
Multiple offenses may result in being referred to the dean of
students and other possible sanctions.
Only students living on campus or using the university wireless
network can have their computers quarantined, Lin said.
This unique approach to reprimanding students for illegally
sharing files is the reason why Associate Vice Chancellor of
Information Technology Jim Davis testified before Congress on Oct.
5.
“The UC culture is one of strong respect for copyright and
the law, but also strong respect for due process and
privacy,” Davis said to Congress, in referring to the
quarantine process.
With reports from Bruin wire services.