File-Sharing Students Fight Copyright Constraints

The Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/education/10students.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

Brad Dunn

Wednesday, October 10th 2007

The article tells the story of a college student at the Brown University who was notified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) via email that he was to be fined for files that he illegally downloaded through file-file sharing programs. He was told he could be charged anywhere between $750-$150,000 for each single song that he aquired. He was one of twelve students at Brown University that was fined for illegal file sharing. The student was a co-founder of the Students for Free Culture chapter at Brown University. The organization claims that the laws surrounding file-sharing are outdated and are not relavent to todays technology. They advocate that copyright laws are not relevant ever since the internet was created. They not only support the liberalization of music but also for film and visual arts. The organization is wide spread over the United States at over thrity five different universities and are wraped into all the controversy that stems from whether file sharing should be legal or not. The Brown student resolved the case by paying a $3000 fine.

I think that the charges, like those against Jamie Thomas, are rediculous. The fact that the fine per song can range over a $140,000 spread displays a great deal of leway that the RIAA may take advantage of. I am sure that they have a system of calculating the loses of a single file shared song, but the amounts of money seem as though they could be easily stretched. As far as the organization, Students for Free Culture, I believe that their philosophy of making the arts free for everyone to enjoy is a great concept. I also believe that such an organization would attract a massive draw at any local University. I support the progress that the students are making, and a definite court decision on file sharing seems to be imminent. Even though I am not active with file-sharing programs I feel that they could be very beneficial if legalized. The amounts of culture that could be shared would be vast, and the world could possibly be a much more open society. Important concepts expressed by the Students for Free Culture show how we could exprience music native to parts of asia, south america, and Africa with a few quick file transfers. We would not have to worry about if it is was good or not, it would be free! These ideas could spread very rapidly and also provide infinite educational opportunities.