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Campus file-sharing reports rise after dip in 2013

February 16, 2015
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But that increase of Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaints, from 970 to 1,134, received by the university pales in comparison to the four-year-high of 2,021 in 2011.

And since 2011, only five students who violated copyright laws have had their MSU network access suspended for a semester or longer, along with facing probation for their remaining time at the university, MSU IT Services spokesperson Beth Bonsall said.

Additionally, another student currently has their case pending with MSU Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution through the Department of Student Life, she said.

The fact that none of these students have faced legal action represents the shifting methods of enforcement by copyright holders.

Criminal justice associate professor Thomas Holt said media companies have backed off pursuing copyright violators through legal battles and, rather, have moved toward informal means of curbing the illegal activity, such as filing DMCA complaints that demand the offender cease and desist.

“They mostly stopped (legal action),” Holt said. “The argument is that it was more damaging to media companies to pursue a lawsuit against individuals, it wasn’t stopping rates of piracy and instead it seemed like more of an embarrassment for them.”

When MSU receives a DMCA complaint from a copyright holder, they deal with the offender using a three-tier system.

Given a first-level complaint, the offender incurs a $25 processing fee. A second-level complaint entails a $50 fee and an appointment with the MSU DMCA Processing Office.

A third-level complaint costs the offender $75 and demands them be further punished by MSU Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, at which time their network access is blocked until the complaint is resolved.

The repercussions of a third-level complaint varies from person to person based on the behavior of the individual and the intentionality and impact of the offense, Department of Student Life associate director Rick Shafer said.

College students seem to represent the largest group of peer-to-peer file-sharers in the U.S., with 40 to 60 percent of them illegally downloading music and other media, Holt said.

Having researched the correlation between certain behavioral traits and those who illegally download, Holt said they are likely to have low self-control, low impulse control and a view of piracy as being socially acceptable.

Adam Candeub, an MSU law professor, said pirating is an attractive alternative to buying the intellectual property, because college students are typically short on cash. But the plus side of piracy for media companies and media creators is that illegally downloading provides them free advertisement, he added.

The highest amounts of revenue lost from illegally-downloaded copyright material occurs in undeveloped and developing countries, Candeub said.

And though Holt estimates that rates of piracy in the U.S. will either remain the same or increase, he said that the real determining factor of piracy’s future will come from a changed legal stance toward intellectual properties and how companies manage copyright infringements.

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