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The University of Maine used to provide students with a free music download option, but the agreement made between Ruckus Network Inc. and UMaine last year ended during the summer when the online music service went out of business. Ruckus’ departure from the business has left students with no university-provided alternative to illegally downloading music files.
Ruckus, an ad-supported music download service, provided students with a library of more than three million songs. In its agreement with UMaine, Ruckus planned to provide the university with a server on campus to prevent any network crashes.
According to Executive Director of Information Technologies John Gregory, this summer “Ruckus went belly-up.” UMaine’s IT department waited for Ruckus to install a server on campus, but instead, the department received a legal notice that Ruckus had declared bankruptcy.
“The Ruckus story is really a dead end,” said UMaine networking specialist Gerry Alden. “UMaine acquired the license, but Ruckus went belly-up before the server was sent to the campus.”
The RIAA sued about 500 UMaine students for illegal downloading last year, according to Gregory, who thinks the university is heading in the right direction this year. He said several students illegally downloaded at the beginning of the year, but now it is down to five or six caught a week.
IT pursued licensing with Ruckus as a way to offer students legal music downloads. The university’s electronic communication policy covers copyright violation, and two years ago, 34 UMaine students were sued by the RIAA. Their cases were settled after they were hit with large fines.
Gregory said the RIAA asks for $1,000 per song downloaded, but those sued can settle for less.
When students illegally download files, RIAA issues a written complaint to UMaine, which hosts the computer servers. IT then gets the IP address of those students and turns off their internet access. IT does this by law, after receiving a subpoena from the court. This can mean turning off the internet to the individual’s computer in the resident’s hall or on a laptop anywhere on campus.
“[After] a first offense, we make an appointment and talk to them and go over what it is they did and tell them they need to stop,” Gregory said. “We then go over the policies and after that, it usually ends. Anything after that goes into judicial affairs.”
David Fiacco, director of UMaine’s Office of Community Standards, Rights and Responsibilities, described the RIAA as “vicious” and “not very sympathetic.”
Fiacco cited RIAA’s $220,000 lawsuit in 2006 against a single mother from Wisconsin. Fiacco said this case and others are among the examples used in a virtual seminar in 2007 for the National Association of College and University Attorneys, where it was stressed that “anyone who, without the authorization of the copyright owner, exercises any of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner, is an infringer of copyright.”
Fiacco’s only advice to students who are caught illegally downloading is “to get an attorney.”
Carey Gustanski, a second-year graduate student from California, said he used a free program that allowed users on campus to share files.
“There was a free program called Direct Connect that allowed users all over campus to share files. Most everyone I know used it,” Gustanski said.
Gustanski believes the university should reconsider looking into another downloading service like Ruckus.
“I think students should be allowed a free downloading service,” Gustanski said. “We pay enough money as it is for tuition and fees. I don’t see any reason for the university not to look into another downloading service like Ruckus.”
