JUSTIN CHEN/YH

MP3 Mayhem

Before the Internet revolution, die-hard music fans would distribute bootleg tapes of concerts, albums, and other performances by their favorite musical groups. Now, with the advent of digital formats—such as Motion Picture Entertainment Group Audio Layer 3 (MP3)—that allow easy trading of music over the Internet, the music industry perceives an even greater threat to their copyrights, their profits, and their very hold on music distribution. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in order to protect its monopoly on music distribution, is spearheading the Secure Digital Music Initiative, which would set up a technical framework that ensures that music cannot be distributed without the permission of the copyright holder—namely, the permission of the music industry.

However, in college campuses across the nation, the main problem with the sharing of MP3s and other digital music files is not copyright infringement. Instead, college administrators are more concerned that mp3 file sharing is placing a strain on network resources. This problem was exacerbated recently by the use of a program called Napster, which makes it easier for audiophiles everywhere to exchange music. At colleges, which have access to high-speed, high-bandwidth networks, Napster use has been taking up a significant percentage of resources. This has led some schools, such as Oregon State University, to block access to the Napster software, webpage, and servers. "It was using five percent of O.S.U.'s total bandwidth going out of the university...[which] doesn't sound like a lot, but it is—a real, real lot," said Chris White, the network administrator for the university's residential network, in an article that appeared in The Chronicle for Higher Education.

At Yale, Napster has also, at times, been causing problems for the network connection. This lead Information Technology Services (ITS) to conduct tests in which they shut down access to Napster for long stretches of time, according to Daniel Updegrove, head of ITS, and H. Morrow Long, ITS's Security Officer. Updegrove and Long said that ITS does not have a set policy on MP3 or music file sharing. Instead, they point to the ITS Appropriate Use policy, which places limits on the "use" of network resources and any "copyright violations" that shared files may cause. However, ITS has only acted on MP3 sharing when a single user or group of users were using up too much bandwidth. "If we identify computers on the Yale network that account for an unusually high amount of traffic, we will contact their system administrators (or owners in the case of students) to inform them that such usage constitutes a 'resource hogging' condition, and is thus a violation of University policy," Updegrove said.

At the present time, Yale is not considering actions akin to those of the OSU administrators. However, ITS did meet with the Yale College Computer Assistants (CAs) in order to "start working on a policy towards MP3," Long said. The first such meeting took place on Fri., Feb. 3. Thus far, ITS simply plans to use CAs as a way to communicate to the students about use of resources policies and copyright laws. One tip that Long wants to give students is that the Napster program essentially turns one's computer into a server, allowing all other Napster users access to that person's MP3 files. However, Cas have been informing students of a new version of Napster that allows this feature to be turned off.

There are indications that college administrations have other concerns besides "network hogging." RIAA has shown concern over the large number of copyright violations inherent in campus sharing of MP3s. According to CNET.com, RIAA has contacted a number of universities in an attempt to put a halt to college MP3 sharing. This list of colleges includes Yale. "RIAA has contacted the University several times to express concerns about computers at Yale that were alleged to be serving copyrighted materials. It would be inappropriate for me to comment more specifically about these cases," Updegrove said.

Thus, the battle over MP3s continues. This war has been rife with lawsuits—RIAA sued Napster, MP3.com (one of the main distributors of digital music) has sued RIAA, and RIAA has also targeted Diamond Multimedia, makers of the Diamond Rio, a portable MP3 player. Meanwhile, college students continue to spread the music, unhindered, and continue to be among the main users of the brave new format of MP3.

Back to YH Features...