THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 24
MP3 copyright law enforcement increasing
It turns out that *Hail to the Thief*, Radiohead's sixth album, couldn't be more aptly titled.
The unfinished album was leaked online in late March and downloaded by thousands of eager fans — much to the dismay of the band members.
"All the attention is gratifying, but we want it when all our hard work's done and the best it can be," bassist Colin Greenwood said recently. "Until then, this is all just unhelpful noise."
Despite angry artists, most of us don't give MP3 downloads a second thought — an oversight that could mean trouble for frequent users.
Copyright infringement notices have nearly doubled at the University of Kansas in the past semester, said Jenny Mehmedovic, coordinator of information technology policy and planning.
218 copyright-violating downloads were reported from corporations such as the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association. That's compared to 115 violations reported from August 2002 to December 2002.
From January to mid-April.
Nicole Roche nroche@kansan.com
These all took place on a KU network connection, which is used by residents in the residence halls, scholarship halls, Jayhawker Towers and some off-campus dial-up users.
Mehmedovic said it wasn't the downloads that had increased. The higher number of violations can be attributed to increased enforcement of laws such as the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Could casual KaZaA users finally be held accountable for all those illegal downloads? Show me a single MP3 virgin at this University and I'll show you someone living in a digital dark age — many
people have entire libraries of music downloaded on their computers.
"What we find is that most students don't realize that this is an issue," Mehmedovic said. "But we feel like we ought to educate students about what is legal and what is ethical when it comes to electronic downloads."
Mehmedovic e-mails first-time offenders asking them to delete the illegal material within 24 hours. A second offense will land students in a required educational meeting about copyright law. Students who are caught downloading copyrighted material for the third time will lose their Internet connection for the remainder of their stay in the residence halls — a punishment imposed by the Digital Millennium Act.
According to an article in the April issue of PC World, this act is helping organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America target commercial Internet providers like Verizon or AOL. Recently the association subpoenaed Verizon to release the name of a user who had downloaded more than 600 songs, and a U.S. district court judge ordered Verizon to comply.
If the ruling stands, Mehmedovic said, then off-campus users could be targeted as aggressively as those currently on the University network.
Michele Kessler, associate director of Legal Services for Students, said groups such as the Recording Industry Association
or America and Motion Picture Association probably weren't as concerned with "the little fish."
"It's probably not going to be a problem unless they think you're some big-time distributor charging everyone $1 to join your network," Kessler said.
Still, students should play it safe, she said. Those who download occasionally should turn off the file sharing feature on their download program, she said, so at least you're not sending the file to other users.
Even if you occasionally indulge in the sins of MP3 downloading, it's still a good idea to protect yourself from the watchful eye of the law. In the end, if you can't keep the KaZaA to a minimum, it might be time to abstain.
Each week reporter Nicole Roché covers a different consumer issue. She is a Wichita senior in journalism.
Asian interest groups work to start chapters
By Jessica Palimenio
jpalimenio@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Because some Asian students think their culture goes unnoticed on campus, they are trying to form local chapters of Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Phi Gamma sorority.
"We thought it was a great way to get Asian culture involved in campus," said Robbie Ray, Derby junior and Lambda Phi Epsilon pledge captain.
Sota Thach, Wichita sophomore and Alpha Phi Gamma president, said she thought everyone should have the opportunity to participate in the sorority and
fraternity system, but some students might feel more comfortable joining a group like theirs.
The groups are currently known as "interest groups" until they receive their national charter and recognition from one of the three governing councils at the University of Kansas.
Shelby Gigous, Topeka junior and president of Panhellenic Council, said the council was happy to have the Asian interest group's participation and activity in the council.
"We are excited to see what they are going to do next fall and in future semester." Gigous said.
Both groups are currently working to receive their charters
by traveling to host chapters around the country and learning about their histories.
Ray said the 12 members of Lambda Phi Epsilon had learned about brotherhood from the other chapters.
Ray said he realized that his group had earned a reputation for throwing parties, but there was more to the organization than that. The parties are thrown to raise money for the group to travel to its host chapters.
The group also participates in community service throughout Lawrence. When the group receives its charter, members will be required to complete 10 hours of service each month, Ray said.
"I don't want people to think that if they are not Asian they can't understand our culture. We can teach them. People can really learn from the experience.'
Sota Thach
Wichita sophomore and
Alpha Phi Gamma president
Neither group is limiting itself to the 3.2 percent of the University's population that is made up of Asian students. The groups
would like to include people of different cultures.
"I don't want people to think that if they are not Asian they can't understand our culture," Thach said. "We can teach them. People can really learn from the experience."
Ray said his organization was trying to recruit men with "academic leadership" who are "leaders among men."
The men of Lambda Phi Epsilon plan to cross over, or be initiated, within the next month. The 14 members of Alpha Phi Gamma hope to have the group established next fall.
- Edited by Amber Byarlay
Fraternity loses food during weekend theft
Hamburger patties and chicken strips are not on this week's menu at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Someone broke into the house during the weekend and took boxes of the frozen food from a freezer and an Internet adapter from the computer room, said Phil Howes. Leawood sophomore and fraternity president.
Lt. David Cobb of Lawrence Police Department said the thief forced entry into the back door of the house, 1645 Tennessee St., and broke off a key in the door. Estimated damage to the door was about $300, according to reports.
The metal door had a deadbolt, and Cobb said police were not sure how the thief entered the house.
"We were pretty concerned at first when we couldn't lock our door for two nights after it," Howes said. "Now we're just wondering who did it."
He said the door lock had been fixed temporarily and would be replaced over the summer. Police have no suspects in the burglary.
A locked food pantry door was also damaged. Howes said the thief knocked the wooden frame off the door and was then able to access the freezer.
The adapter taken from the computer room connected four computers to the Internet. Howes said the adapter belonged to the fraternity house and likely would not be replaced because the house would be switching to a wireless Internet connection over the summer.
— Erin Ohm