Show The digital revolution sites Joseph T 1 W. W w r Bateman Music Reporter started the digital revolution Across the country millions of people from college kids utilizing fast T T-l connections to unluckier lots with slow modems logged onto the site and shared entire music collections With a click of the mouse mouse it seemed like an entire record store was at your finger tips The most alluring part was that it didn't cost a dime not the software and certainly not the downloads Using the latest to peer-to- peer technology caught the attention of the media mainstream America and other entrepreneurs Soon numerous copy cat sites flooded the World Worldwide Wide Web With all this attention the Recording Industry Association of America brought numerous high- high profile lawsuits challenging the technology under copyright infringement and the slowly the digital revolution seemed like it was built like a house of cards This vision wouldn't last long While the was pushing paper were basking in the glow of their computer screens In the summer of 2002 a new technology called emerged d. d is a network protocol designed for transferring large files very quickly over the Internet said Dennis Coates assistant professor of computer science at The technology works similar to to peer r with users offering up a certain portion of the file is designed to work more efficiently as the number of people interested in a specific file increases said Coates Think of several people Continued on page 3 I 1 r i k C r t j P c 1 p 1 File Photo Illustration make it easy for users to access newly and released pre-released material such as movies and music however the record industry finds this illegal takes on Continued from page 1 t i sitting around a table trying to get a complete copy of a book One pers person person n declares that he has pages 75 75 I 00 of the book Another person de declares that t tr the he has pages r 66 22 2 of the book and another nother has pages and so on Sl Sharing aring eventually gets you the full book Coates explains that sharing a file music video ISO images etc works the same way A central server coordinates the actions of all the parties in getting the complete file The underlying philosophy of is that users upload and download at the same time thus utilizing g network bandwidth efficiently One senior at th the e University of Utah Uta h i who wished to remain n i nt anonymous said t t sites help him get music musi c and software that normally y r ya couldn't be afforded on a i students student's budget Ive used them for th thelast the thelast e last five years I used t tuse to o use I realize it its it's s not but now I mainly use torr as yo you youcan can download entire CDs in less than five minutes and computer programs that would cost hundred of dollars to legally buy Without com corn Id I'd never be able to download Adobe Suite Microsoft Office and AutoCad on a students student's budget which is pretty much nothing said the U student A scan of several sites such as and reveals a plethora of albums not yet released everything from Ne- Ne Yo Ne-Yo Yo to Nail Inch Nails Along with the music the sites offer access to other forms of media to new-to-DVD movies such as Blood Diamond or Children of Men software like Windows Vista and games like These sites also offer books such as Stephen Kings King's Das Madchen and television shows everything from Law Order to Next Top Model Using a site is like having that shopping spree that entertainment junkies have always dreamed about although that shopping spree might come at a cost downloads are not anonymous and andI so information about your computers computer's IP address and the files that you download can be traced trace d back to you said Coates Your Internet Service Provider may release their logs of your downloading activity to potential copyright plaintiffs Th The Themore Themore e more copyrighted files you download the more you u risk being sued by copyright t protection groups With the an and d lawsuits no now targeting individual 1 it is hard t to 0 determine if any are the tin e result of sites o or orold orold r old to peer-to-peer networks Regardless these groups group s have targeted the Web sites that run One Web site has a section entitled legal threats Inside are arc cease and desist letters it has received from nearly every major label software and movie studio along with the often hilarious responses The breaking point came when their Swedish offices were raided last June but less than 72 hours later the Web site was back up Professor Coates cautions h fiL t- t I f 1 I d h f F. F I II o. iI I III r ii or r J II Y I r 1 E v It r j jJ d 2 r J. c 8 W A. A I A y Photo by Rob With the emergence of its it's never been easier to trade music students to avoid trouble by downloading only legal files You as a user must be sure that the files you download are legal and adhere to copyright laws said Coates Site administrators such as might want to occasionally monitor the types of Web sites being accessed keeping an eye out for illegal torrent forums Sites that blatantly disregard those laws and provide seed files of copyrighted materials should be shut down Despite the warning not all students are concerned about repercussions or feel remorse I dont don't feel bad and I dont don't know anyone that does The only time you'll get someone to say that they feel bad for downloading is when they're in front of other people If they're not they're home downloading as well said the anonymous U of U student Its just a great way to get music right now since its it's the perfect time to get everything you ever ever wanted for only one thing your time If time equals money I guess they're paying |