Since Napster’s release on June 1, 1999, many college-age students have become quite… Since Napster’s release on June 1, 1999, many college-age students have become quite familiar with the logo that represents the company.

An unlimited source of free music at one’s fingertips seemed to be too good to be true – and it was.

With the strong increase in copyright infringements that occurred with Napster, the Internet-based company was discontinued but later reappeared as a paid media-sharing program a few years ago.

The idea of illegal file sharing has since swept the nation despite lawsuits associated with illegally downloading music. Since the original company was banned, various other file sharing companies have emerged, including Kazaa, Gnutella and LimeWire.

Downloading media without permission has since continued to rise all over the country, even on Pitt’s ResNet system.

“I think sharing between close friends is OK. It’d be a lot easier to do it, since the Internet connection at Pitt is so fast and with neighbors so close together, there’s a lot of music to spread around,” student Sara Shatt said.

Pitt’s Computing Services and Systems Development Web site states that copyright infringement can happen when “Peer-to-peer programs allow sharing of copyrighted music, movies and software, often without the knowledge or consent of the user.”

SurveyU, a survey and research organization, released a notice that said “the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recently renewed a legal campaign against students sharing music files on campus networks.”

Pitt’s internet server, ResNet, is no exception to this rule. Pitt students who are caught sharing media illegally will undergo severe penalties under the Student Judicial System.

“A friend of mine got caught downloading an episode of ‘Entourage’ using a program called Bittorrent. He got a notice in the mail from HBO warning him to never do it again,” student Marina Jackson said.

According to a document revised on Sept. 27, 2005, Pitt warned of an eight-step process to stop copyright infringement by resident students and other network computer users in the area.

The procedure begins when the University is given a possible subject who might be committing copyright fraud. From there, the complaint is handed over to ResNet where an administrator will delve into the person’s file in order to look for copyright infringement.

“The ResNet staff issues an e-mail notice to the student concurrently with a written memorandum via campus mail. The notice informs the student that his/her network access from the residence halls has been suspended and includes a requirement that the student confirm with the Technology Help Desk that the infringing activity has ceased in order for network service to resume,” the Pitt document said.

From there, the case is sent to the Student Judicial System.

Punishments for copyright media infringement can lead to fines up to $150,000 for each file illegally downloaded. That is a lot of dough for a student to pay off.

“Revenues within the music industry have been dropping with analysts citing the emergence of single song purchase models as well as file sharing networks as causes for the decline,” SurveyU said.

SurveyU also noted that after 500 college students were interviewed, “45 percent of students admit to purchasing less music than they used to” and “98 percent [of students] have at least one song that was acquired without payment.”