The Computer Operators Group (COG) shut down the student-run network file-search service Boogle.agblog.com shortly after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed lawsuits Thursday against operators of similar file-search services at three universities. The defendants named in the RIAA suits are students at Princeton University, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Michigan Technological University.

An RIAA press release issued last week equates these services to Napster, the pioneer in file-sharing software and early target of the recording industry's campaign against the practice. In the release, RIAA President Cary Sherman said, "These systems are just as illegal (as Napster) and operate in the same manner. And just like Napster, they hurt artists, musicians, songwriters and the thousands of others who work to bring music to the public."

COG President Adam Batkin '03 said he strongly disagrees with Sherman's assertions. "Contrary to what they want you to think, I don't believe that the music industry has lost any money because of file traders on the Internet," he said.

Danny Silverman '05, who created Boogle last year, did not anticipate the sudden legal action. "It was unexpected," he said about the lawsuits. On file sharing at universities, he added, "The RIAA either sends cease-and-desist orders, but more likely they send a message to a university under the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)."

The DMCA was passed in 1998 to enforce copyrights on digital works, which include mp3 audio files. Silverman said he believes that with this act, the RIAA sometimes oversteps its boundaries as an industry trade group. "The DMCA gives the RIAA the power of an enforcement agency," he said. "They didn't know about Boogle. But they wanted to make an example."

An official with the RIAA called file-sharing services on local area networks (LANs) "examples of egregious copyright infringement. Networks like these are blatantly illegal and we are sending a message."

In response to this statement, Silverman said, "The RIAA is mistaken. It likes to create terminology to inspire a visceral reaction."

The reaction at Brandeis to the demise of Boogle has been one of great disappointment. A message board set up on the Boogle Web site is filled with many student comments, often laced with profanity, of frustration with this development. "The RIAA is absolutely terrified of technology," one student posted, while another wrote, "The only good thing at Brandeis is gone."

Daniel Peng, a sophomore at Princeton and creator of a file-sharing service called wake.princeton.edu is now the defendant in a brief filed by 17 record companies before the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. Although Peng declined to comment on the legal action, he said the plaintiffs request "the maximum statutory damages in the amount of $150,000 with respect to each work infringed."

Silverman said he questioned the RIAA's practices, accusing the music industry of price-fixing. "The RIAA is turning against its customers," he said.

Batkin called record companies "a bunch of greedy liars."

The campaign against file sharing at colleges and universities picked up momentum last October when Hilary Rosen, RIAA chairman and CEO, and Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, sent a letter to the presidents of 2,300 colleges and universities. The letter asks schools to monitor their computer networks against file sharing on the bases of legality and bandwidth usage. Brandeis Network Administrator Rich Graves stated that file sharing accounts for virtually all use of the network. "Gaming, Web, e-mail, AOL and academic research traffic are negligible in comparison," he said.

"Commercial pop acts don't want you redistributing their recordings," Graves added. "You should respect that."

Graves said he does not want file sharing to end at Brandeis, however, especially for the benefit of the University's resident performers and musicians. "They should be doing more to make a name for themselves," he said.

Boogle's fate is not permanently sealed, although according to Batkin, the decision to shut down was immediate. "As soon as we found out about the cases at other schools involving services similar to Boogle, we decided to take Boogle offline. It was within five minutes," he said. "When you're going up against a major corporation with dozens of lawyers and you're a college student, they're going to win," Silverman said on the potential futility of a legal battle against the RIAA.

Both Batkin and Silverman hope, however, with some uncertainty, that Boogle will eventually return. On whether the events of last week spell the end of Boogle, Batkin said, "We don't know and certainly hope not."

"It's offline not because its illegal, but because of the threat of lawsuits," Silverman said.