Illegal downloads don't pose ethical problem for college students

University of Washington computer science student Peter Davis has his Apple iPod packed with nearly 3,000 songs and enjoys spending time at his apartment downloading television shows and movies to his personal computer with the help of file-sharing programs.

The 22-year-old isn't bothered too much that the songs, television shows and movies hold copyrights or that industry executives have vowed to fight this piracy.

"There are so many people doing this that the risks are so low," he said. "It's like shoplifting without the risk or retribution."

Apparently, other students agree. A new national survey conducted for the Business Software Alliance found that two thirds of 1,062 college and university students said they have no ethical reservations about illegally downloading digital copyrighted files from the Internet for free -- or swapping them electronically with other people.

The survey, released yesterday, also said that 52 percent of the college-age respondents believe it is permissible to pursue such downloading of software, music and movies at school or at the workplace.

Nearly half of the students also said they are using campus networks to download files.

The non-profit alliance, founded in 1988, has worldwide offices and represents the software industry, including Microsoft Corp., and the industry's hardware partners.

An executive with Seattle-based Loudeye Corp. said yesterday the survey did not surprise him.

"If the results were different, that would be shocking," said Mike Dougherty, vice president of corporate and business development.

Dougherty said he has seen statistics showing that millions of songs, films, games and software are illegally downloaded each week.

His company uses technology based on electronic counter warfare to try and block a person from getting copyrighted files.

When computer users illegally download copyrighted material, he pointed out, companies and artists, including independent musicians, do not get paid for their work.

He and several University of Washington students said illegal file sharing illustrates an increase of consumption of media, in traditional forms, such as a compact disc, or illegally from the Internet.

Dougherty said one goal is to get a younger generation of computer users, who have grown up with access to free copyrighted material on the Internet, to start using legitimate sites, which charge money.

Davis said computer users who want to download or swap bootleg material can do so by visiting Web sites that are outside the United States but that have links to songs and movies that are copyrighted in this country.

Other programs and high-speed Internet connections enable quick illegal downloads.

While the industry is fighting piracy with litigation and technology, some economists contend the demand for pirated information, both in the United States and worldwide, indicates that content providers need to adjust the price of their products.

If that occurs, illegal markets could evaporate quickly.

In the meantime, universities in Seattle have policies on illegal downloads on campus. Seattle University prohibits its students from misusing computer accounts, including illegal file sharing and downloading from the Internet.

At the University of Washington, staff members do not monitor computer networks for this type of activity, said Catherine Innes, director of policy and strategic initiatives at its technology transfer office.

But if a copyright holder notices that a university network is being used to illegally download or share material and complains to the university, staff members will contact the individuals and ask them to stop.

"Generally, that's all it takes," she said. "We typically don't see a lot of repeat offenders. We are finding people who are unaware that they weren't supposed to do this."

She estimates the University of Washington receives about 100 complaints per year, which she said is not particularly high on a campus that has 50,000 students, faculty and staff on an average day.

Also, not all young people are spending time swapping or downloading copyrighted files.

Scott King, a recent UW-Bothell graduate, said he pays for songs at Apple's iTunes music store, which charges 99 cents per song.

"The quality was there. I didn't have to spend my time to scour the Internet to look for the song that I wanted," said King, 23. "I feel my time is more valuable than downloading illegal music."

For Davis, his interest in downloading material started as a teenager when Napster, one of the first file-sharing sites in the Internet world, made headlines. Before entering his 20s, he said, he had downloaded about 3,000 songs, including heavy metal, rock and tunes from indie bands.

"Back then, I didn't have any qualms about the illegal aspect of it," he said. "I didn't have an income back then."

But he also knows the risk. Last year, his fraternity received an e-mail notification from its Internet Service Provider about the sharing of a downloaded and copyrighted television program.

The provider, he said, threatened to cut its high-speed service if there were future problems. He also will not download material at the UW because he knows the size of a copyrighted file can be traced back to a computer.

Still, computers with high-speed connections make it convenient to grab copyrighted material from the Internet. "It just puts it at my fingertips," he said.

Downloading a copyrighted album, he said, takes a few hours. A movie, he added, takes about a day.

With hype surrounding the new version of "War of the Worlds," Davis said he downloaded the original and watched it this week.

"I'm a big geek, and it's interesting to me," he said. "I spend time figuring things out."

On the Net: To read the complete survey, visit www.definetheline.com/press03.htm.

P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 206-448-8137 or bradwong@seattlepi.com

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