Shauna McKnight | Co-Editor in Chief

The copyright cleanup, which begins today, is in initiative by the university to stop illegal downloading of music and movies on campus. Director of Campus Security, Mark Kirkholm explained that the main goal of the university is to protect students from being prosecuted by outside entities such as record labels and movie companies. New technology better allows companies to track illegal music downloads. The penalties for this can be quite severe, with fines up to $250,000 and five years in prison for simply downloading a movie. The university is asking for cooperation from students to comply with not only the policy in the code of conduct, but the law as well.

“It is the university’s duty and responsibility to be proactive and educate and inform students about the law. We aren’t looking to punish them, we just want them to get rid of [illegally downloaded material],” Kirkholm said.

Once a violation has been identified, Student Affairs handles the incident in the same way that any other violation is handled. Each case is handled on an individual basis. Some potential outcomes, if a student is caught in violation of the policy, include official warnings among other things. The worst punishment for any violation is expulsion.

As many students know, there are many alternatives to downloading music and movies including Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon on Demand, Spotify Premium, and Pandora.

The Tack polled students about their downloading habits. 56 students responded. When asked how students get their music, most students claimed they listen to music via online radio such as Pandora.



Regarding their movie-watching habits, 58% of students watch movies at least once per week. They typically used Netflix and DVDs as their primary source of movies.



When asked if the copyright cleanup would effect their downloading behaviors, 34% of students said they would continue downloading illegally.