As UCLA launches its new “Get Legal” campaign
““ aimed at preventing media piracy online by providing legal
alternatives ““ some students are questioning whether the
program can work when illegal options are so prevalent and whether
the program’s incentives are enough to draw them to the
program.
Get Legal consists of a one-year agreement between UCLA and
digital-media vendors iTunes, Cdigix and Mindawn to offer legal
music downloads to UCLA students.
Jonathan Curtiss, manager of technological development for UCLA
student and campus affairs, said illegal downloading of music and
videos has become common among many students.
“Students are conditioned to get (media) illegally,”
said Curtiss, who is also a member of the Get Legal team.
The biggest concern for the effectiveness of Get Legal remains
that many students find it very easy to download illegally, he
said.
And while many students may not prefer to pay for legal
downloading, Curtiss said media piracy is becoming increasingly
risky because media companies are more vigilantly attacking those
who download illegally.
Faced with a legal obligation to comply with media copyright
laws, UCLA has introduced the three-pronged campaign. Get Legal
provides education about downloading, disciplinary disincentives
and legal alternatives, Curtiss said.
The educational component of the campaign consists of letters
from the dean of students to all students indicating the risks of
illegal downloading, as well as poster campaigns in residence halls
to spread the word, Curtiss said.
The Get Legal program will not change the disciplinary process
facing students caught downloading illegally, Curtiss said.
UCLA’s disciplinary policy on illegal downloading is to
cut first-time offenders off from Internet privileges until the
offender signs an agreement not to violate the university Internet
policy again. Second-time offenders face more serious consequences
such as permanent loss of university Internet access.
Curtiss said this policy is intended to be fair to students
while still providing students with an incentive not to violate
copyright law.
Those pirating media can also face lawsuits from media
companies, which happened to five UCLA students last year. The five
were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for
illegal file sharing. One of the students, Diana Li, said the
incident cost her around $4,000 in total.
Curtiss said the Get Legal program has been introduced at no
cost to the university, ensuring it will have no effect on student
fees.
One intended incentive for legal downloading with Get Legal is
iTunes’ donation of five cents of every $0.99 song purchased
through the program to UCLA student governments. The donated money
would be split between the Undergraduate Student Association
Council, the Graduate Students Association and the On Campus
Housing Council.
But some students do not consider iTunes’ donations to
student government incentive enough to use Get Legal vendors.
First-year economics and political science student Rajan Trehan
said he would prefer the songs be cheaper rather than have such a
small amount go to student government.
But student government leaders said even though the donation is
small, the money would help.
USAC President Jenny Wood said Get Legal is “a positive
program that offers students an easy way to … help student
initiatives on campus.”
Wood also said while USAC does not yet consider the campaign to
be a substantial fundraising mechanism, it could potentially
provide significant funding for USAC in the future.
“It is great that students … know that a portion of the
funds they spend will come back to benefit them on campus,”
said GSA President Jared Fox said.
Last week, the vendor Cdigix also announced it will make its
music-subscription service free to students of partner schools,
Curtiss said. This would be another incentive for students to use
the program.
Cdigix once charged a monthly fee for students to download and
listen to songs on their computers, but UCLA students can now
access this for free, though they will still have to pay in order
to move these songs to a portable device or CD.
However, Cdigix is only compatible with Microsoft Windows PCs
and its downloadable files are only usable on portable devices
compatible with WMA/DRM files, meaning students using Apple
computers and iPods cannot use the program.
Curtiss acknowledged the Cdigix partnership will not help
students who want music to use with iTunes or an iPod.