File sharing is a growing problem among Boston University network users and leads to higher internet service costs and poor network performance, Information Technology director Jim Stone said earlier this month, before BU officials announced they would begin charging students for use of a campus internet connection.

During a Spring Break interview with The Daily Free Press, Stone said students currently do not pay for internet access, but had no comment on administrators’ future plans.

Stone said about 12,000 students use BU’s high-speed internet service, and because many factors are included in providing internet service, he said he could not give an actual estimate on the amount of money it takes BU to provide the network. Stone added that the cost of providing internet service has been going up annually.

‘A lot of that has to do with the bandwidth students are using,’ Stone said. Bandwidth is the capacity for data transfer.

Stone explained that file-sharing through programs such as KaZaA increases the amount of bandwidth taken up at any one time.

‘Some students don’t know that KaZaA automatically shares any music and movie files that the user has on his computer,’ he said. ‘If every student shut off file sharing on KaZaA, a lot of bandwidth would be freed up.’

More bandwidth means the internet service will perform better, Stone said. According to Stone, BU students have complained of poor network performance, which he attributed to BU students sharing files.

‘A lot of people outside of BU download off music and movie files from BU students because our network is high-speed, and with so many people on the network, there are a lot of files to choose from,’ he said.

Another downside to file sharing is the copyright violations that follow. By file sharing, Stone said, ‘students automatically become illegal distributors of files they have no right to share.’

According to Stone, approximately six or seven outside agencies notify BU when students violate copyright laws. BU is then legally required to alert the students in question, and the students are told to delete the illegal files.

‘The students are very cooperative in deleting the files,’ said Stone.