ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop University is warning students to stop downloading copyrighted music over the university's computer system.
The warning, sent earlier this month by the university's top information technology official, notes that students could face disciplinary action or prosecution for misusing Winthrop's high-speed Internet link.
Dormitory residents, who have Internet access in their rooms, are the focus of the university's warning.
Since the start of the semester, the university has received 50 formal complaints about copyright violations from NetPD, a company working for Sony to regulate the use of its music and movies, said James Hammond, Winthrop's associate vice president for information technologies.
Most of the NetPD complaints involve downloading music by Michael Jackson and the band Incubus.
There also have been countless informal complaints about copyright infringements and hacking from individuals, network administrators and Web masters, Hammond said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Through the Internet, students can acquire and store music in their computers and play it back, or record the music on CDs. The popular Napster Web site, which was sued by the recording industry, was among the best-known sites for obtaining music over the Internet, but there are many others.
At least two Carolinas colleges - the University of South Carolina and Johnson C. Smith University - banned access to Napster before the site's use was more widely restricted. Last year the music industry asked Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill to ban access to Napster, but the schools declined.
Hammond said he does not want to block all downloads on Winthrop's system because some don't involve copyrighted material.
Musicians and recording companies say downloading music without their permission violates copyright laws. But many students say they don't think they're doing anything wrong.
"In a way, yes, because you're not buying it," said Patrick, a Winthrop dorm resident who doesn't want his last name used.
"But in another way, no. The technological advances have gone this far, why not use them?"
For dorm residents, not only is the technology easy to use, but the connections are fast. Patrick said it can take about 30 minutes to download a song over a standard dial-up connection, such as the one he has at his home. But it takes only about 30 seconds in his dorm room beca use the university has a sophisticated link to the Internet.
"It's bad, yes, but it's just sharing music," said Harold, a junior who has downloaded hundreds of songs to his computer. "People kind of have the feeling that they're kind of owed a few free songs."
Students also can download and save full-length movies on their computers.
Hammond warned that downloads can be traced to specific dorm rooms.
This semester, three students have been warned about using the university network to download inappropriate material, Hammond said.
Knight Ridder Tribune
