USNA Seizes 100 Midshipmen PCs

Cable World, Dec 2, 2002

Byline: ANTHONY CRUPI

From the way the United States Naval Academy reacted to the discovery that some of its midshipmen were downloading MP3s, one might think somebody had been caught doling out a Code Red.

In the most severe crackdown to date on online, on-campus piracy, the USNA seized 100 computers from students who allegedly had pirated music and movies stored on their hard drives.

School officials confiscated the computers when students were in class on Thursday, Nov. 21, an academy spokesman said. Those involved could face punishment up to and including court-martial if they are found to have downloaded copyrighted material illegally.

Computers are given to each midshipman upon entering the academy. During their four years at the school, mids pay back the value of the computers through deductions from their monthly paychecks.

The academy was but one of 2,300 colleges to receive a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and three other entertainment groups in October urging the schools to "impose effective remedies against violators" of copyright law.

"We are concerned that an increasing and significant number of students are using university networks to engage in online piracy of copyrighted creative works," read the letter, which was also signed by a representative of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "We believe there must be a substantial effort, both disciplined and continuous, to bring this piracy under control."

Although colleges have long been at the center of the file-swapping debate - the sheer number of students with zippy Internet connections and a desire for new music makes this group one of the main practitioners of copyright violation - administrators in the main seem concerned for purely technological reasons. When Napster first began to gain traction on campuses back in autumn of 1999, network administrators were dismayed to discover that students were using huge gobbets of campus bandwidth to download songs and other files, a practice that slowed the on-campus network to a crawl.

Although the letter refrained from threatening schools with any sort of legal action, that will be of little solace to the midshipmen involved in the sting. According to Harry Gray, managing director at RKG Osnos and USNA class of '91, some of the students involved can expect to answer for their alleged crimes. "I think there are going to be some examples made," Gray says. "As is the case with everything else it does, the academy is going to treat this with all the gravity and precision of a military maneuver."

Academy spokesman Cmdr. Bill Spann said network traffic at the academy is routinely monitored and that the students involved have been disciplined for violating a policy that prohibits unauthorized copying.

Cmdr. Spann said the downloading also was a violation of the USNA's Honor Code.

"You're held to a higher standard when you're a midshipman," Gray said. "The academy isn't there to teach you anything you didn't already learn in the sandbox, but once you sign on the dotted line, you're held accountable for your actions."

Although the RIAA letter may have set the chain of events in motion, the organization has done its best to downplay its connection to the Annapolis incident. "We appreciate institutions who take intellectual property theft seriously," an RIAA spokesman said in a written statement. "However, we do not dictate what their enforcement policies should be."

While other schools have taken steps to discipline file-swappers - officials at the University of Southern California have warned students that they can be kicked off the network for piracy - no school has reacted with the vehemence of the USNA. As Gray sees it, the situation is rife with a bitter sort of irony.

"Music is the greatest outlet of energy there is at the academy," he says. "It's a saving grace. You'd hate to see someone who's willing to take a bullet for their country get expelled for something like this. That would be a shame."

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*Should colleges play ball with the RIAA, or should they focus on the big picture, i.e. education?