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Plenty of sharing is going on at Ohio University these days, but not the kind students’ mothers taught them.
The Athens school has the dubious distinction of sparking the most complaints nationwide that students were illegally sharing music.
The Recording Industry Association of America has notified the school that since the beginning of the year, 1,287 students have illegally accessed music. The secondhighest number was at Purdue University, which has been sent 1,068 complaints.
The figures are way more than those of last year: 232 at Ohio and 37 at Purdue. That’s because better technology has improved the association’s ability to track copyright offenders.
That doesn’t necessarily mean more OU students are breaking the law, said Shawn Ostermann, the school’s interim chief information officer. The university’s network makes it easy for the recording industry to identify possible violations, unlike some other schools’, he said.
Ostermann said complaints probably are up at Ohio University for two reasons: File-sharing software is allowed on campus computers, and the recording association knows the school is vigilant about responding to complaints.
OU students lose their Internet access when the music industry files a complaint, Ostermann said. To have it restored, they must turn off the music file-sharing capability and promise not to share copyrighted music, he said.
A student caught illegally sharing music a second time would face a judiciary hearing, he said, but that’s never happened. Violators could be suspended or expelled.
File-sharing software is not illegal, but downloading copyrighted music is illegal without the permission of the copyright holder. The recording industry rarely agrees to allow free downloads, but music can be bought legally from some Web sites.
Ostermann said OU allows file-sharing software so that students have full access to information.
"You’re supposed to share information at a university," he said.
Some universities, such as Ohio State, don’t allow filesharing software on computers in dormitories.
But some students add it. This school year, the recording industry has sent OSU 252 complaints.
When that happens, the Office of Student Affairs sends the student a copy of the complaint and has the student remove the offending files, said Valerie Shaffer, director of student-affairs information technology.
For a second offense, the student’s Internet access is cut off temporarily. A third offense means a trip to the school’s judicial board. That has happened only once in the past five years, Shaffer said.
"Generally students are pretty compliant when they get the warning," she said. "They know they’ve done wrong."
Cary Sherman, president of the recording association, said he hopes the complaints "spur schools to take more proactive, comprehensive steps to address our mutual problem."
According to a survey by the Intellectual Property Institute at the University of Richmond’s School of Law, more than half of all college students illegally download music and movies. That’s why the recording association has gone after students.
Besides complaining to universities, the association also has sued students for stealing music.
Of the 50 lawsuits filed over the years against Ohio State students, 24 have been settled, according to Jenni Engebretsen, association spokeswoman.
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