MP3 Ethics

MP3 Ethics

This letter was published in the Clarion during Spring 2001 and printed here with permission.

MS Word Version for Printing

Bethel faculty, staff, and students:

Recently a member of the Bethel community received a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) regarding the use and sharing of digital MP3 music.  As you can see, the attached letter illustrates the dangers associated with the misuse of copyrighted music.  It is important for each of us to realize that even though there are Internet companies/websites which offer free music and video downloads it is not necessarily legal to do so.  It is often a direct violation of copyright laws, which carry very stiff and stringent penalties.

As members of a Christian learning community, we should encourage one another to live with integrity, according to biblical principles, and to abide by federal and state laws as well as by Bethel's computer acceptable use policy.

Bill Doyle, Vice President, Information Technology Services

Judy Moseman, Vice President for Student Life

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Dear students,

I write this letter as a student who was caught by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).  I want to inform you of the risk that you may be placing yourself in by possessing MP3's and especially if you are distributing them.

I possessed over 3000 MP3 files on my computer and set up an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site in an attempt to see how many hits I could get on my site per day.  With that idea in mind I also realized that the more music I had, the greater potential there was to obtain a larger number of hits.  I started it up and ran it for almost a month, using my computer as the server.  Over this time I obtained more music and thus my hits went up because of it.  I did all this seemingly without any complications, except for the ones that I didn't know existed.  There is nothing wrong with hosting an FTP site; it is the content of that site that can create some serious legal problems.  Why would I do this then if I knew that it was illegal?  That is where my problem arose.  I did not know/ understand the laws under which music is copyright protected.

If I had read the Bethel Policies clearly and concisely and also looked for the laws on possession of MP3 music, all this could have been prevented. The responsibility for all this solely rests on myself.  In my attempt to save few minutes I did not read the Policy statement that clearly states, "Webster defines theft as the act of taking the property of another without right or permission. Unauthorized copying of copyrighted software or multimedia materials (such as MP3 music files) is also taking property without right or permission" (Computing Acceptable-Use Policy).  The policy also clearly states that, "Users of the Bethel network may not share over the network software or multimedia materials (such as MP3 music files) for which they do not have the license to share. A single-copy license is not a license to share copyrighted material over the network" (Computing Acceptable-Use Policy).  It is your responsibility and is also to your great benefit to read this entire policy and understand it.  Knowledge can help prevent mistakes.  Contrary to the popular statement, "What we don‚t know can hurt us".

In talking with some of my fellow classmates I have found that many people do not understand the legal implications of music and the forms it can take. I was in the same situation when I was running my server.  I now have a much clearer understanding of what the laws are and what is required.  After learning the federal laws, I believe they are very clear.  If any of them are violated, in any way, an infringement of federal copyright law occurs, and you can be prosecuted.

• You can make copies of music that you have legally purchased and use them for your personal use only.
• You are not allowed to make copies of songs and then give away or sell the original.
• You are not allowed to post music for friends and others on a website, ftp site, or any other form of Internet site, unless you have obtained legal permission and can display it.
• You are not allowed to give the music to a friend on a copied CD or in any other manner, unless you have obtained legal permission and can display it.

If prosecuted, the consequences of these infringements can be very severe.

Any combinations of the following are feasible:

• Up to $250,000 fine
• Up to 5 years in prison
• Up to $150,000 per work infringed (http://www.riaa.com)

For my future involvement with MP3's and other music I have removed from my computer all the songs of which I do not own an original copy.  I will no longer download any music for which I do not own the original.  Overall I will completely comply both with Bethel's Computing Acceptable-Use Policy and the Federal Laws.

I hope that I have enlightened you to what the laws are and what can happen if you are caught violating them.  I hope that you will consider what I have explained and reconsider what you may be doing.  I pray that you don‚t think that it could never happen to you.  I had no idea and it happened to me.  If you have any questions you can e-mail me at concerned-student@bethel.edu or contact Dr. Doyle, Vice President, Information Technology Services, at 651-638-6306.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Student

(Reformatted and edited for the web.)
October 9, 2001