Making up half of the 20 percent of Americans that engage in file sharing, people between 12 and 22 are among the chief targets of those accused of illegally sharing copyrighted music, according to Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research, Inc. in Cambridge. In a city teeming with young college students, Boston has proven to be a major hotspot for RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) litigation as 46 lawsuits of the 261 filed since Sept. 8 against those accused of illegally sharing music are in the local area.

"I wouldn't say the RIAA is targeting college students specifically, but they're inevitably going to hit a lot of college students," Bernoff said.

Bernoff explained that since young consumers are more likely to use file-sharing software than one-in-nine older consumers, younger demographic groups are more likely to be prosecuted.

"The focus is on college students because of three reasons," Bernoff said. "First, because of the high use of file sharing, second because of the high amount of free time they have, and third because of broadband bandwidth that makes it easier to download music."



With 18 percent of the lawsuits filed in Boston, Eastern Mass. may have the largest concentration of online music-sharers targeted by the RIAA, according to a Sept. 8 Boston Globe article. Naturally, this has caused some to grow increasingly concerned of Brandeis' own file-sharing network, Boogle, and its relative security.

"If you are sharing files, you do not have privacy," wrote Boogle's creator, Danny Silverman '05, on its official site. "This is not a BranScan issue, this is a real-world issue. If you are sharing on a public network, anyone on that network can see the files that are being shared, and from which computer. People with access to information to network topology (such as ITS) can determine where the sharing computer is located. People with access to UNet databases can see to whom the computer is registered."

Perry Hanson, the Chief Information Officer and Associate Provost for Educational Technology, said in a May 5 campus wide e-mail that Brandeis has a responsibility to report copyright infringements when Brandeis Computer Policy has been violated.

"...federal law requires Brandeis University to take action when notified that someone on our network is illegally distributing copyrighted materials...Legal action may be taken against you by the holder of the copyrighted material that was sent to or received from your system," Hanson said.

If legal action is taken against a student Brandeis must abide to whatever is asked and maintain a neutral stance in the litigation, according to Executive Assistant to the President Dr. John Hose.

"If the University was presented with a subpoena concerning the activities of a student, we would first confirm that the subpoena was properly issued, and, if so, we would then comply with it," Hose said. "If a student was sued in connection with unlawful use of copyrighted material, the student would have to have his or her own legal representation in court. Brandeis' attorneys would not represent the student."

Three student computers have been cut off from the network so far this semester which is remarkably fewer than other local schools, according to Network Administrator Rick Graves, of Information and Technology Services.

"My paranoid streak wonders whether the relatively few copyright complaints Brandeis has received means they're (RIAA) saving up for something big," Graves said.

So far the music industry association has only sued those who enable the sharing feature on their file-sharing software and are distributing more than 1,000 music files, according to The Boston Globe. Those who choose to share files face the possibility of a multi-million dollar lawsuit since the music association is requesting statutory damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song.

"From a strictly legal standpoint, the kind of file-sharing described in the lawsuit is a pretty clear violation of copyright law," said Laura Miller, a sociology professor. "And it will be very difficult for those being sued to argue otherwise...what to me is the more interesting question this lawsuit raises is whether at least some Americans are challenging the very notion of intellectual property."

Despite the copyright issue, some students view the lawsuits as futile because there will always be a demand to download music regardless of its legality.

"(Recent RIAA litigation) only seems to make an ugly situation even worse," Dan Schleifstein '05 said. "Attempting to apply judicial action at this point in time will be

ineffective, as the public has clearly expressed a mandate for online file-sharing that arises from common usage and, most importantly, above attempts to associate it with precedents in allegedly similar cases..."

However, students still are still apprehensive to download and share on Boogle or other music file-sharing software programs. According to a July 16 report by Forrester Research, 68 percent of young Internet users who share music online said fear of jail time or a fine would stop them. Furthermore, file-sharing has fallen 23 percent after the RIAA first threatened consumers with lawsuits, according to market research firm, NPD Group, in Port Washington, N.Y. This statistic represents a sharper decline than NPD Group had expected from students leaving their high connection speeds at college

Students who fear being faced with a hefty lawsuit can look into receiving amnesty from future lawsuits in exchange for a notarized promise of reform announced by the RIAA Sept. 8.