Residents urged to stop sharing illegal files

As the semester begins, many students may be wondering what the future holds for the downloading masses on campus.

In an earlier news.com interview, Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said the best defense for downloaders is to stop distributing music files or sharing them online.

Greg Seibert, director of Security and Compliance at the university, said Information and Legal Services has done all it can regarding the situation and is fully complying with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

During fall semester, the RIAA issued a subpoena to the university, asking for information regarding a student’s downloading activity. After reviewing the subpoena, the university decided to comply with the subpoena’s requests and contacted the student. After the first meeting with the student, however, the student couldn’t be reached again.

“We have attempted to contact the student further regarding the issue, but so far we have heard nothing — he may be under legal advisory not to do so,” Seibert said.

Seibert also said that while downloading activity on campus has not increased since the subpoena was issued, it has not decreased, either.

“Downloading has remained pretty stable right now, despite previous warnings,” Seibert said. “Without a face or a name, people aren’t really paying attention to the situation.”

The subpoena was returned to opposing council last semester, but to date it has not been filed in the court system.

Contact general assignment reporter Shelley Blundell at [email protected].