When it comes to stopping pirates, lawsuits are proving not nearly as effective as an old-fashioned noose.
Although the Recording Industry Association of America filed suits against more than 200 illegal file sharers in September, several Boston University students said the effects are not as great as the RIAA and Information Technology directors claim. Many students also said they are not very concerned about potentially being sued, and appeals to their morals and ethics, a focus of a recent Motion Picture Association of America ad campaign, are futile.
‘I don’t mind [expletive deleted] record companies. I don’t like media conglomerates in general,’ said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Emily Baker. ‘I’d rather support independent labels and smaller artists.’
Although she understands the moral issue, College of Communication sophomore Noanna Tzinakos said she does not think about it.
‘I think bigger issues haven’t hit our generation morally, like date rape, drugs, plagiarism,’ she said. ‘If those don’t work, file sharing won’t.’
However, a Nielsen/NetRatings survey found KaZaA usage dropped by 40 percent since the RIAA began filing lawsuits against file sharers, and Office of Information Technology Consulting Services Director Jim Stone said the lawsuits have definitely impacted downloads at BU.
‘Everything dropped icy cold,’ he said. ‘It’s working. Whether you think it’s right or wrong, it’s having a chilling effect.’
The RIAA is ‘encouraged’ by the lawsuits’ effects, said spokesman Jonathan Lamy, but is also using education campaigns and promoting legitimate file-sharing services to reduce piracy.
MORAL COMBAT
Education about the illegal aspects of violating musical copyrights has been successful, Lamy said. A November RIAA poll found that 64 percent of responders understood that making ‘music from the computer available for others to download for free over the internet’ was illegal, up from 37 percent last November, according to a press release.
Lamy said the industry had previously used informational campaigns in newspapers and on MTV, but these methods did not have as great an impact as the RIAA hoped.
‘At the end of the day, you change perceptions by introducing consequences,’ he said. ‘Education is great, but education alone will not change people’s behavior.
‘It’s important to discuss how [piracy] is immoral, how it undermines the future of the industry, how it’s theft from artists … these are all important,’ Lamy said later. ‘But what we found resonates most is that it’s against the law.’
So far, the MPAA has not filed lawsuits against people who illegally download and trade movies, said spokesman Matt Grossman. The association is relying on educational campaigns, such as mini-films which feature cameramen and electricians describing how piracy hurts them along with the more noticeable stars.
Although he had no hard data, Grossman said he believes ‘awareness of the campaign’ has increased and the association is hoping to avoid suits by reducing the number of file-sharers.
‘You’re never going to stop piracy,’ he said. ‘Certainly you want to stop it, but we’re realistic. It’s about understanding percentages can you keep it down to a tolerable level?’
Though movie pirating may be down at BU, students said slow download times and fewer quality movies have had more of an impact than appeals to their ethics.
‘[The films] try and make you feel bad, but I see through that,’ said Ken Thayer, a COM senior. ‘If the cameraman is not getting paid enough, he should talk to his union.’
CAS sophomore Chris Paulson said the educational films run as previews in theaters target the wrong audience and suggested the MPAA use pop-up ads instead.
‘It’s not effective to reach people who already care,’ COM sophomore Mike Metz agreed.
Stone also said ethical arguments ‘are having no effect on students.’
‘If you want to stop people, students or otherwise, hit them in the wallet,’ he said, noting copyright holders do have moral weight that students should not rationalize against.
‘Whatever the market bears, that’s what you get for it,’ he said. ‘You don’t go stealing cars from a lot because you think car dealers are making more than they deserve.’
SHARE WHERE?
In recognition of the file-sharing paradigm, recording and motion picture companies support websites that allow people to pay for legal downloads. Apple’s iTunes offers single track downloads for $.99, and the revamped Napster adds full album downloads for $9.95. Movielinks.com and cinemanow.com supply streaming video downloads for between $3 and $5.
Although the MPAA does not endorse any particular site, Grossman said legal downloading helps the fight against piracy.
‘Offering legitimate alternatives is just as important as stopping illegitimate ones,’ he said.
Paulson said iTunes is a viable option for downloading music and it is a good source of music with some more obscure tracks, but he has only used it ‘a few times.’
College of Engineering sophomore Garth Marshmann said he doesn’t know anyone who has used pay-per-download sites.
‘I would never pay for music that way,’ he said. ‘If I wanted an album, I’d just buy the actual physical copy.’
Some universities have entered campus-wide deals with legal music providers.
For example, Pennsylvania State University purchased Napster’s premium service, which still charges for downloads but offers students unlimited free streaming content without the $10 monthly charge.
But Stone said he did not know of any negotiations between BU and music or movie websites or of any BU plans to enter similar agreements.
Leaders from the entertainment industry and universities formed the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities last fall to discuss the overlap between colleges and file-sharing.
‘Illegal file-sharing is a problem for both communities,’ Lamy said. ‘It’s increasingly becoming a problem for a number of reasons for higher education. File-sharing is contributing an increasing amount of bandwidth usage, hurting people who want to use it for academic purposes.’
CAN’T STOP
THE DOWNLOADING
Despite legal alternatives and the threat of lawsuits, BU students say downloading and file-sharing will continue.
‘Considering that we don’t have cable, if you don’t download, you have nothing,’ Tzinakos said. ‘During the blizzard I had no TV. If I didn’t have my computer, I’d just be staring at the wall.’
Philosophy professor Simon Keller said the current generation is less likely to be concerned with the moral implications of file-sharing and piracy because people feel like they are getting back at corrupt corporations.
‘Undergraduates … have a lot more cynicism, particularly about the corporate world,’ Keller said. ‘People these days have been exposed to the anti-globalization movement, they’ve been influenced by large corporations making huge amounts of money and not being held to laws.
‘The older generation saw in more straightforward moral terms the younger generation doesn’t have that political or moral stance,’ he continued.
Human nature is part of the impulse behind file-sharing, Metz said, adding that the internet just enables easier theft.
‘The people who download movies are the same people who sneak into movies,’ he said. ‘People aren’t stopping downloading they’re just looking for new engines. And there’ll be some soon.’
Stone said the associations would have to intensify their tactics to really have any effect.
‘They’re going to have to get into the thousands [of lawsuits], hit students at every campus to really get to the meat of this,’ Stone said. ‘But every indication says they’re headed in that direction.’
And if that fails, there’s always walking the plank.