2013
Volume 125 Issue 88
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
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IGH LEE/KANSAN
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Kansas was
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WITTLER/KANSAN
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kansan.com
SHIVER ME TIMBERS
DOWNLOAD DANGER
Copyright Alert System to battle online piracy; those caught illegally downloading could face consequences
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
AT&T, Cablevision, Time Warner, Verizon and Comcast are taking long awaited measures to address entertainment copyright infringement. Online piracy now faces a battle with the Copyright Alert System, developed by internet service providers and copyright holders such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
The Copyright Alert System will standardize sanctions, representing a major step taken against the illegal downloading of entertainment. Anyone caught illegally downloading will receive six warnings. Thereafter, ISPs will enact mitigation measures.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation estimates that the illegal downloading of copyright entertainment content like music and movies consumes 24 percent of bandwidth globally.
Freshman Nick Sandino, for one,
might be in trouble.
Sandino, a marketing major from Overland Park, uses uTorrent to download games and shows from The Pirate Bay, which provides torrent files and magnet links. While he downloads PC games like "Deus Ex" or "Borderlands 2", he makes a point to pay for the music and games that he enjoys.
"If I do want to buy a new game, I will torrent that game then, if I actually enjoy it, I'll buy it," Sandino said. "I don't want to spend $60 on a game and not enjoy it. I don't mind paying for a game, but I want to try it first."
ResNet, the Internet provider option for students who live on campus, is not a part of the Copyright Alert System. At home, however, Sandino's family subscribes to Time Warner Cable.
Notifications are sent to the owner of the Internet service provider's account, rather than directly to the individual who has violated copyright laws. This system avoids infringing on privacy, said University of Kansas School of Law professor Mike Kautsch, by adding agreeing to being subject to the Copyright Alert System into the Internet service provider's terms and conditions. Furthermore, ISPs have sworn to not sell their subscriber's browsing information to outside parties.
If Sandino ignored six warnings and were to continue illegally downloading, one of the possible mitigation measures, bandwidth throttling, would reduce the Internet speed for Sandino's entire family. Theoretically, this would leave Sandino to download, his sister to check Facebook, his mom to reply to email and his dad to work all at a dial-up speed for one week.
"If I was going to torrent, it wouldn't do it at home because it's not only my Internet, it's my family's Internet," Sandino said.
"Federal law is very clear," Kautsch said. "Original works of expression are protected by copyright."
The Copyright Alert System imposes a graduating series of notifications and demands for compliance with the law.
"I think it will probably have some deterrent effect," Kautsch said. "It probably will not succeed at the level that the copyright owners hope it will. There will be determined infringers who subsist
regardless of the Copyright Alert System."
Between 1999, the dawn of peer-to-peer file-sharing, and 2011, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 53 percent, according to the Record Industry Association of America.
"The music industry — the people who produce and sell the music — has been decimated by [illegal downloading]," said Kelly Corcoran, the owner of Love Garden Sounds in Lawrence. "But they were overpriced for so many years that it led people to alternate ways to getting music."
Love Garden Sounds is a new and used vinyl record store at 822 Massachusetts St. Business hasn't been hurt by illegal downloading because the store has adapted to the modern landscape of illegal downloading, Corcoran said. This is partially thanks to dedicated rock fans, since top 40, hip-hop and electronic music are the most illegally downloaded genres.
"Nobody talks about going to a store to buy the new Lil Wayne," Corcoran said. "They do think about doing that if they want to go buy the Black Keys."
While peer-to-peer sharing supporters may criticize the economics of the music industry or argue that creative works should be shared, copyright protection laws are what they are and people should be compliant, said Kutsch.
"The people who feel that there ought to be more freedom to share using peer-to-peer software need to go to Congress and lobby for a change in the law," Kautsch said. "That's what they ought to do rather than simply defy the existing law"
Edited by Hayley Jozwiak
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
The Copyright Alert System, developed by internet service providers and copyright holders, will battle online piracy and standardize punitive procedures. Anyone caught torrenting or illegally downloading will receive six warnings. Thereafter, the copyright holders have said they are not interested in prosecution, but there is nothing legally stopping them from suing.
ADMINISTRATION
Chancellor discusses recent news, basketball and break
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little talks to reporters about things going on around campus and the state on Monday. Gray-Little said that March Madness will help attract potential students.
EMMA LEGAULT
elegault@kansan.com
In her second interview with the University Daily Kansan, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little discussed the Congressional sequester, preservation of the Wakarusa Wetlands, and March Madness.
SEQUESTER As of March 1, an across-the-
SEQUESTER
Although it hasn't been determined when or how individual grants will be affected at the university, this could translate into graduate research funding cuts.
board federal funding cut took effect as Congress declared sequestration as a consequence for failing to take action to balance the federal budget.
"That is definitely one of the concerns that the University would have, is not only how it would
It's uncertain whether the cuts will be visible this year or how different agencies will handle them. However, any potential cut could effect the efficiency of the research itself.
affect our funding overall, but in particular how it would affect graduate student funding." Gray-Little said.
Gray-Little explained that the amount of the fund to be decreased would depend on the size of the grant as well as how many graduate positions are offered in a program.
"If it's a grant that had one or two graduate students, it might result in a reduction in the funding for those graduate students. If there's a grant that has multiple graduate students, it could eliminate one of the positions," she said.
"Graduate students are very important in actually getting the research done, so it would eventually affect the productivity of the research as well," Gray-Little said.
WETLANDS
Student Senate recently voted to form a task force to work to prevent construction in the Wakarusa Wetlands by the Kansas Department of Transportation for the South Lawrence Trafficway.
"Last year or the year before, it became clear that the state could declare imminent domain over the property that we have and use it for the purpose of an easement anyway," she said. "So in some ways an official effort doesn't change that situation very much."
MARCH MADNESS
Although Gray-Little recognized that the land is considered by some students at Haskell and KU to be a special, if not sacred place, she said there will most likely not be a university-wide effort to avoid construction.
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
The presence of the University in the tournament and the celebration of advancement may attract some potential students to inquire about applications and admissions, but Gray-Little said where she sees the most dedication and excitement is from the alumni.
"There are alumni who travel from very far places to come to the celebrations when we go far in the tournament and there will be people who I'll meet as I'm traveling who will tell me that they came back for this event," Gray-Little said.
the rights to the land, which originally belonged to Haskell Indian Nations University, with two other groups. Portions of the land are available to students and faculty for research, but are not frequently used.
As the men's basketball team prepares to kick off the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments, March Madness is alive and well on campus.
Gray-Little believes that student support is vital during the postseason.
The University currently shares
Gray-Little joked that she tries to "avoid madness at all costs," but said she certainly participates in the tournament activities and plans to attend postseason games. She would not reveal whether or not she plans to make a bracket.
"There will be people who, because of that kind of tournament, know the Jayhawks," Gray-Little said.
Aside from being a staple of the college basketball season, especially at the University, the national tournament benefits the University by increasing visibility.
"I just hope that we are successful," she said. "Our students, I think, are a very important part of our team's success, so I think that their continued support is important."
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
While traveling, Gray-Little meets and speaks with alumni and donors about the University's goals in quality of educational and research programs. Since December, she has traveled to Phoenix, multiple cities in Texas and California,and will be traveling to Denver and Chicago in the future.
These meetings serve as forums for discussion as well as social gatherings.
"That's an element of the University that the students who are currently enrolled don't get to see very much, of, but it's really a very enjoyable activity because the strength of commitment to the University is so strong in the alumni," Gray-Little said. "When we go to a place and have a reception and visit with them, they're just delighted to be there and happy to see one another, so it's a good gathering."
During the break, Gray-Little plans to continue to promote the Far Above campaign.
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 5
- Edited by Heather Nelson
SPRING BREAK PLANS
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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