As MP3s have become popular, concerns about copyright infringement have proliferated just like the compressed, easily transferrable digital music files. Now, a 71-student bust at Carnegie Mellon University in October has put the issue in a new light: Should university administrators sacrifice students' privacy rights to enforce copyright laws?
Administrators at Carnegie Mellon insist that their random and unannounced MP3 search on the school's server was not a violation of the file-owners' privacy. Still, Duke officials say they will not adopt a random search policy.
"We have never followed a practice of randomly searching through individual personal folders looking for violations of any kind. I hope we never do," said Charlie Register, Duke's information technology security officer, adding that not all MP3s violate copyright laws.
According to the Office of Information Technology's security and privacy policy, "the University may find it necessary to access and disclose information from computer and network users' accounts to the extent required by law, [or] to uphold contractual obligations or other applicable University policies...."
The statement's practical effect is to allow administrators to look into students' files only if the University receives a copyright complaint from an external source, like the Recording Industry Association of America.
"As far as randomly searching students' computers..., we should respect students' privacy," said Assistant Dean for Judicial Affairs Kacie Wallace. "But if we learn about them, we'll address them."
Trinity sophomore Nick Atchison, who said he has many MP3s available on the network, said that by making files public, students should accept potential consequences. "I wouldn't be happy with administrators trying to bust students for having MP3s, but if a student puts it on the network, they know it will be there," he said. "They don't have any right to complain."
Carnegie Mellon administrators estimated that the Pittsburgh school has received about 12 complaints in the last year from copyright owners; in the same time span, Duke has received less than six outside referrals.
The University's policy of acting only in the face of a direct complaint is a legitimate legal practice, said Professor of Law David Lange, an expert in intellectual property.
"If a university has reason to think the system is being used by someone in a way that violates the law...," Lange said, "it is not remarkable to think a university would want to do something to protect itself in that connection."
But trolling the network at random for students illegally using MP3s, Lange said, is ethically parallel to listening in on telephone conversations.
"I'm not in favor of that kind of snooping...," he said. "Rights to privacy outweigh the possibility that someone may be discovered downloading MP3 files."
Carnegie Mellon administrators, however, argue that their search was not a privacy violation because they merely used the search methods available to students.
"[We were]not trying to break into systems," said Paul Fowler, associate dean of student affairs at Carnegie Mellon. "We were doing what any student could do sitting in a cluster...," he said. "Students don't see it as a privacy issue when their roommate does it, but if somebody who can hold them accountable for their actions [does], they say we're violating privacy."
Administrators chose 250 student files at random; Fowler estimated that there are between 5,000 and 9,000 people on their network.
Fowler said that the administration's intention was not to bust students, but to develop a "snapshot assessment" of network culture; the analysis was sparked by four complaints about MP3-sharing in the span of a week.
Still, once the school knew about the infractions, it had to respond. The 71 students caught with illegal MP3s in their files lost in-room access for the rest of the semester; 53 of the students attended an information session about copyright law, reducing their punishment to four weeks.
Given the controversy surrounding Carnegie Mellon's search, Fowler said, the school is not likely to conduct anything similar in the future. Instead, the school will beef up education programming and clarify its policies about network use.
"We have to completely change the way we operate...," Fowler said. "We had created a culture of complacency where students believed they could violate the law with no ramifications."
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