Some colleges warn students on sharing music

As the recording industry deepens its crackdown on Internet music piracy, administrators at several major universities said they are now spending an unprecedented amount of orientation time educating students about copyright infringement and fielding questions from an increasing number of parents who are concerned about file-sharing. And their message to students and parents is stark.

''They said, `If the record industry comes here with a list of addresses, we're going to have to turn them over,' '' said Michael Trapanese, 18, a student from Kinderhook, N.Y., who will attend Boston College in the fall.

While most universities have traditionally devoted significant time to questions about computer networking, a barrage of subpoenas issued this month by the Recording Industry Association of America has focused the attention of many administrators on the problems specifically associated with file-swapping programs such as KaZaA, Grokster, and Morpheus. The industry association sent over 900 subpoenas this summer to colleges and Internet service providers, including Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp., demanding the names and addresses of computer users it suspects of sharing copyrighted music.

Administrators at DePaul, who received a subpoena this summer, are developing a special program for incoming freshmen that will address copyright issues. Similar programs are in the works at Bentley College, where administrators plan to hold campuswide discussions when school resumes, and at the University of California, Berkeley, where freshman orientation will address the topic for the first time this year, spokesmen for the two schools said..

''I think in light of what's happened, we're going to expand our education efforts,'' said a DePaul spokeswoman, Robin Florzak.

Several universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston College, have said they will fight the subpoenas served this summer on procedural grounds.

But Boston College is singing a different tune with its new students. The two subpoenas received by administrators there have furnished a ''particularly relevant'' lesson for incoming students, said Mary Corcoran, the school's executive director of support services. Administrators there have always discussed the legality of file-sharing during technology orientation programs, she said, but the issue took center stage during some of the sessions this summer.

''A lot of students don't understand the seriousness of copyright violation,'' Corcoran said. ''I think they think it's an OK thing to do because everyone else does it . . . so having a particularly compelling example may finally make them understand it.''

Jack Dunn, a Boston College spokesman, stressed that the school was not reversing its stand on the issue. ''We've never shielded students from the consequences of copyright infringement,'' Dunn said. ''When the subpoenas are lawfully filed, we will comply with them.''

Copyright violation, the colleges say, is serious business: Under federal law, the industry could seek penalties of $750 to $150,000 for each illegally shared song.

Sheldon E. Steinbach, general counsel to the American Council on Education, a Washington, D.C.-based policy group, applauded administrators' tougher stance and said he expected file-sharing to top this fall's list of ''buzz-word back-to-school issues.''

''Regardless of what the RIAA has done, colleges and universities need to do more to inform students . . . about misusing university facilities, namely bandwidth, for personal use,'' Steinbach said.

While most schools named in the subpoenas have released the information to recording industry officials, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sought to fight the requests. The two schools said in court documents filed on July 21 that the subpoenas did not allow the schools sufficient time to contact the students involved, a practice that is required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

The colleges also claimed that the subpoenas, which were filed in Washington D.C., were not properly filed in US District Court in Massachusetts.

But both institutions signaled they would comply with any subpoena that gave them enough time to contact the students in question -- a point that administrators made clear to students at Boston College.

''They're basically not going to protect us,'' said Trapanese, who attended an orientation program July 20 to 22.

The RIAA's president, Cary Sherman, said he hoped to work with educators to combat music piracy, and he stressed that the group did not intend to alienate colleges by issuing them the subpoenas.

''We're looking for colleges and universities to take proactive measures to address the problem,'' Sherman said. ''We're not looking for colleges to turn over information to us, but for them to educate their students, to take technical measures to prevent piracy.'' Sherman and other media industry executives have formed a joint committee with leading US educators, including Pennsylvania State University president Graham B. Spanier, to address the problems associated with file-sharing.

At Northeastern University, it was parents who drove the discussion about file-sharing this summer, said Rick Mickool, executive director of information services.

''For the first time parents are understanding that by going to college, students will have better access to technology than they did at home,'' Mickool said.

Northeastern received one subpoena from the recording industry, and administrators turned over information about the student last week.

Not all college administrators are doing something different this year, however.

Debra Zumwalt, Stanford University's general counsel, said the school is not focusing any more on file-sharing this year than it has in the past.

''This is something that we've spent a lot of time and attention on,'' Zumwalt said. ''The fact that there are a bunch of subpoenas that have been issued doesn't really change our view of this thing.''

Stanford has not received any subpoenas, Zumwalt said.

James Collins can be reached at collins@globe.com.