Around the country, and especially on college campuses, a vigorous debate is going on about the RIAA’s latest response to file sharing lawsuits against several hundred alleged copyright violators. BU has had its own opinions from counsel Robert Smith and CAS sophomore Kevin Bryan.

As Mr. Smith points out, file sharing is illegal. Fair use provisions allow us to transfer property between media for personal use, such as copying a CD to a MP3 for personal use or lending a book to a friend. What we are not allowed to do is copy books, CDs, software or any other intellectual property and distribute the copies for free or a price. Such activities deprive the creators of deserved financial compensation for their works, and are illegal and immoral.

That said, the actions of the RIAA are ill advised. The music firms which comprise the RIAA, Hollywood and all other producers of easily copied entertainment should be finding better ways to sell and distribute their product. No matter how many lawsuits they bring, they are slowly running themselves into the ground through their inflexibility.

These arguments should matter to every member of the BU community. As the recipients of a world class university education, many of us will find employment in industries which rely on intellectual property, from movies and music to consulting and pharmaceuticals. As such, we should all be committed to ending file-sharing as a free-for-all and encouraging companies to offer us more flexible entertainment options – or start the companies which will create those options.

Robert D. Lieberthal CAS ’99