Alternatives to “Unrestricted” File-sharing services

By Peter Trentacoste

Community Director

Department of Housing and Residential Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

trentaco@email.unc.edu

Posted: October, 2003     Student Affairs Online, vol. 4 no. 4 - Fall 2003

These past few months have been downright scary for college file-sharers as the Recording Industry Artists of America (RIAA) continues to issue subpoenas for illegally traded files. If you pick up any college newspaper, there’s bound to be an article on file-sharing and student opinions regarding the practice. Interestingly, while most students believe that file sharing of copyrighted material is stealing, a majority believes that file-sharing should not be restricted (Carlson, 2003, A27). Instead of looking at their own behavior, many students blame the RIAA for arresting their own customers and fixing outrageous CD prices (Carnevale, 2003, A29). The RIAA responds to this common criticism on their website by stating that they are acting no differently than a local shop owner who prosecutes shoplifting customers.

As Student Affairs practitioners, we have a vested interest in educating our students and helping them grow developmentally. Unfortunately, for the past several years, many of us ignored the file-sharing problem and may have even exacerbated the problem by participating in file-sharing and downloading illegal files. In fact, a recent study released by the Business Software Alliance, noted that more than 40 percent of educators say it’s “okay” to share or swap software to cut cost (Business Software Alliance, 2003, para 7). Now, with the unprecedented legal onslaught from the RIAA, we should take notice and realize that we must educate our students to help them understand the consequences of their actions. However, getting the message out to students about the legal consequences and ethical implications of downloading copyrighted music is only one component of changing behavior. It is also necessary to provide students with alternatives to downloading copyrighted music. This seems even more obvious when compared with other student behaviors we have an interest in changing such as binge drinking. Most alcohol education programs work collaboratively with “late night programming” or alternative programming efforts to curb the problem. In a similar fashion, it is good practice to provide alternatives to students in relation to downloading MP3s.

While some will argue that services like Blubster, Kazaa, and Morpheous are legitimate and are used for more than piracy, the unrestricted nature of those Peer-to-Peer services (P2P) decreases their legitimacy. If a study was done on those services to compare the ratio of illegal to legal files, I’m afraid that the results would show that the majority of files are shared in violation of copyright law. Luckily, there are alternatives to those popular file-sharing programs.

Several new file-sharing services have been launched that allow legal downloads of music. However, many of these are new startups that are charging either a subscription fee or use a “pay per download” scheme. Since most file-sharers are used to getting music for free, this article will only mention those services that currently provide free and legal content.

One free alternative to unrestricted file sharing programs is the Furthur Network (http://www.furthurnet.com). The Furthur Network is a non-commercial, P2P network of legal live music created by fans. This service connects users to other users sharing “network approved” artist performances. When you search for an artist under this software program, you find a drop down box rather than an open space to type a query. The developers of the program have identified (and continue to identify) music groups that allow trading of live performances. Those groups are then entered into the search feature of the software. Users of the Further network are able to download entire shows from their favorite performers. A quick search of the network finds numerous performances from groups that include the likes of Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, and John Mayer.

There are also several websites that allow visitors to download legal MP3 files. MP3.com (http://www.MP3.com) features over 750,000 downloads from new and emerging artists. The website is easy to navigate and there is a search feature that allows you to search by genre as well as the artist influences. Another website that features legal downloads is http://www.archive.org which features various live audio downloads. Many of the files on this website are saved in .shn format (shorten) which is a popular format used by tapers since it does not suffer reduction of quality found in the MP3 format.

In addition to downloads, the option of Internet radio is also a popular choice that allows users to listen to free streaming music. One of the more popular networks is Shoutcast (http://www.shoutcast.com) which is sponsored by the makers of the Winamp MP3 Player. The Shoutcast network is made up of thousands of broadcasters who stream digital content to users. A quick search of the network, will find numerous styles of music that are available in varying bitrates (higher bitrates result in better quality but take longer to download).

While the courts continue to process litigation related to file-sharing legitimacy, what should be clear to us as student affairs practitioners is that we have a role in changing the downloading culture of college campuses. If we continue to ignore and participate in MP3 file-sharing, we may soon find ourselves on the wrong end of the subpoena.

References

Carnevale, D. (2003, October 3). No such thing as a free song... The Chronicle of Higher Education, A29.

Carlson, S. (2003, May 23). A president tries to settle the controversy over file sharing. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A27.

Olsen, S. (2003, September 16). Study: Students unfazed by piracy. CNET News.com, Retrieved October 20, 2003, from: http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5077451.html