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MP3 = Jailbait? By Carla Kucinski My roommate has just been lured into the recent craze of MP3s. Instead of studying about mental health issues, she spends the time in search of MP3s to add to her Winamp. It's become an addiction. And I know this addiction all too well. Once you begin your journey of MP3 searching, you lose all concept of time. Two hours and 33 MP3s later, you finally find ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and cannot help but release a scream from the depths of your belly. But, in the midst of your excitement, did you ever stop to think 'is this legal?' Watch out! You could be the cyberpatrol's next victim!! The Feds are cracking down on MP3s and have already arrested their first mastermind, Jeffrey Gerard Levy, who is a college student, just like us. Twenty-two year old Levy, a senior at the University of Oregon, pleaded guilty on August 20 to distributing copyrighted material via the web. Levy is the first person to ever be convicted under the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act of 1997 under President Bill Clinton. Levy, a computer and information science major, admitted to illegally posting computer software programs, MP3s, entertainment software programs and digitally-recorded movies on his web site in January this year. Levy's "Warez" site ("Warez" is slang for a site offering free, illegal copies of software) allowed for the general public to download or to copy any copyrighted material Levy posted on the site. The University of Oregon notified law enforcers when it became a little suspicious of a large amount of traffic on a particular web site on its server. The FBI and Oregon State Police investigated and found pirated software programs available to download and copy on this site. Officials were granted a search warrant for Levy's apartment in Eugene, Or. where they seized the equipment used to distribute the pirated software. Levy is scheduled for sentencing by Judge Hogan on Tuesday, November 2, 1999 in the United States District Court in Eugene, Or. The NET makes it illegal to reproduce or distribute copyrighted works, even if the person acts without a commercial purpose or for private financial gain. In the past, under the Copyright Act, anyone who intentionally distributed copied software via the Net did not face criminal charges if they did not profit from their actions. David LaMacchia, a 21-year-old student at MIT, was the catalyst who helped close the loophole in the Copyright Act. In 1994, LaMacchia used MIT's network to post an electronic bulletin board, encouraging others to use it as a means of upgrading software and computer games. The federal grand jury originally charged LaMacchia with a one count indictment of conspiring with unknown persons in violation of the Copyright Act. But, the act only applied to those whose purpose was for financial or commercial gain. Eventually charges were dropped against LaMacchia because there was no proof that his purpose was for financial or commercial gain. Therefore, he did not violate the Copyright Act. LaMacchia's case lead to many debates in Congress, which, in turn, lead to the creation of the NET Act. In Levy's case, he produced the site in order to trade pirated files with others, not for financial gain. It was something that Levy did in his spare time. Repercussions for being in violation of the NET include being charged with a felony and a sentencing of three years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 if the defendant reproduces or distributes 10 or more copyrighted works that are worth $2,500 or more. If the works are worth $1,000 or more, they can be charged with a misdemeanor, a year in prison, and a fine of up to $100,000. Although the sharers of the illegal software benefit by saving themselves hundreds of dollars in software programs, there remain many drawbacks to pirating that affect others. What many do not realize is the large amounts of money computer software companies lose worldwide as a result of piracy. The Business Software Alliance(BSA), which is an organization whose members consists of providers of business software applications such as Microsoft, Apple, Compaq, IBM, Intel, Adobe and Lotus are the largest providers who are fighting to prevent software piracy around the world. The BSA estimated an $11 billion loss in revenues in 1998, $2.8 billion within the United States alone, as a result of illegal software. So what? Who cares if these billion dollar corporations are losing profits. Don't they have enough money already? How will a few billion hurt them? Maybe, but pirating illegal software seems to have a domino effect. Multinational Corporations are not the only ones suffering. The increase in piracy resulted in the loss of 109,000 jobs and a loss of $4.5 billion in wages in 1998. BSA predicts an additional 175, 700 lost jobs by the year 2008. Yet, there is another side to this argument. BSA claims that corporations are losing profits. But, not everyone who copies the software would actually buy it. When something is free, we take advantage of all that it offers. Plus, software is so expensive-- ranging anywhere from $100 to $500 or greater--that a majority of people cannot afford to purchase it. So therefore, there is no lost sale. The government should stop looking to the United States as the main culprit of piracy and start looking to China: the piracy capital of the world. The BSA reported that 95 percent of China's newly installed business software was pirated in 1998. China is a pirate's haven because there are no laws forbidding piracy. The United States has the lowest piracy rate, yet suffers the largest loss of capital, according to BSA. Foreign countries meet the demand for software through copying software and selling it directly to the consumers, either in shops or on street corners. These vendors can take U.S. software, copy it and sell these products for as low as two dollars. A majority of this software is counterfeit. The number of Warez sites are on the rise. According to the BSA website, there are over two million websites offering, linking or referencing "Warez". Over the past three years, Warez sites have increased from 100,000 to 900,000. Auction sites are also troublesome to the BSA, who found that 60 percent of auctioned items were counterfeit software copies. BSA believes Internet piracy is facilitated through email, newsgroups, chatrooms and the web. Surfers can use these means to advertise and exchange pirated software. Web-sites also provide links to download pirated software.
Every day, people use email and news groups to share interesting articles
from on-line sources. Does this mean you can no longer provide this
information to your friends? According to the NET, yes. The act sees
this as a violation. Publishers of these articles may argue that they
are losing profits because of people sharing the articles. Therefore,
the NET sees this as illegal and detrimental to publishers. Recently,
I sent numerous articles written by Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence
Page to one of my friends. It's convenient, less time consuming and
cheaper to send it through email. Does that mean I could be arrested?
It's something to think about. Next time, think twice before you email
your friend the latest Page article because you may hear a knock on
your door from the authorities.
Yet another concern is computers are also at a higher risk for contracting viruses when you download pirated software. You don't know who is offering the software and how many hands it passed through before it got to your PC. And sometimes, your anti-virus software won't be able to detect a virus. I, for one, have personal experience in this area. The Happy '99 virus infected my computer during the spring semester this year, and my IBM still experiences difficulty today. With the recent hype around MP3s, I think college students may be of the highest risk of pirating MP3s without realizing they are breaking the law. Students may think they are not violating the law by sharing MP3s with their friend because there is no exchange of money. Think again. Even if there is no exchange of money, you can be tried simply for intent of financial or commercial gain, like in the case of Levy. His site was something he created and used in his spare time. There was nothing wrong with what he was doing until the FBI arrived at his apartment with a warrant. So my word of advice to all you hackers, surfers and MP3 addicts; take caution in your activities from now because you could find yourself in jail and in debt!!! Carla Kucinski is a sophomore journalism major at Ithaca College. |
