Laura Portwood-Stacer's eyes widened ever so slightly when she learned the music industry filed hundreds of lawsuits Monday in its continuing war against online file sharing.
"If it's a local artist that I like, I'll buy the CD to support them," the telecommunication senior said. "But when it's an artist where the record company is going to get most of the profit, then I guess (file sharing) is OK."
Portwood-Stacer's mixed feelings about file sharing echo the reactions of many students as they learned of the industry's escalating aggressiveness toward downloaders of pirated music and movies.
The Recording Industry Association of America filed 261 lawsuits in federal courts nationwide this week, according to the Associated Press.
The RIAA, which includes industry giants such as Universal Music Group, BMG and Sony, said that more lawsuits are expected for a total that could reach the thousands. Defendants are said to be in possession of more than 1,000 shared files each and, under current U.S. copyright law, each illegal song is worth anywhere from $750 to $150,000.
RIAA has said it will accept settlement offers.
In an attempt to identify more file-sharers, the industry group has served subpoenas to more than 10 universities. MSU officials were unavailable for comment, but many students were willing to share their opinions on this controversial subject.
Some students take the side of the industry, with the stance that file sharing is a form of theft. English and Latin senior Kevin McDaniel agreed that downloaders are responsible for their actions.
"My philosophy is that file sharing is wrong," McDaniel said. "If you can agree that it's stealing, it doesn't matter who it's from. It hurts you as a person more than a faceless corporation."
Other students don't see the harm in sharing a few tunes over the Internet even though they are aware of the possible consequences.
J.R. Knight, an international relations sophomore, was reluctant to give out his name in the fear that he might be prosecuted. He said downloading music saves him a lot of money and space.
"I won't buy a CD for one or two songs, but if I really like what I download, I still go and buy it," Knight said. "But a lot of the stuff I download is on CDs back at home, because I wanted to save space."
Regardless of their reasoning, psychology freshman Ashley Post had no sympathy for file-sharers.
"It's ripping off the artists," she said. "Granted, they're millionaires anyway, but it's still their work. If you like the song, go buy the CD."
