"For five years we have been trying to prevent the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] from making colleges and internet service providers responsible for what their students are doing on the internet," Adam Albina told the Crier. "Last year in August we lost."

The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008, signed into law on August 18, 2008, is omnibus education legislation addressing financial aid, minority and disability population education, and training for several professions. It also includes provisions that requires schools to combat illegal file sharing and educate students about copyright law.

"I am not supposed to be a law enforcement agency," Albina said. "Before it was students breaking the law," Albina says. But now, colleges that do not play offense against illegal file sharing are breaking the law, too.

THE TECHNOLOGY

The particular technology in question is peer-to-peer file sharing, or P2P, and software such as Bittorrent, KaZaa, and Limewire. When users install the software, which is free and legal in itself, they become part of a network of users worldwide who offer music, movie, and other files for free searching by other members of the network. Instead of storing all of the files to a set of community servers, files are downloaded directly from one user's computer to another -- from one peer to another peer.

Several students at area institutions, including the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College, have been sued by the RIAA. Students typically settle and pay fines in the range of several thousand dollars. Colleges are required to give up the names of students file sharing on their campuses when served with a subpeona, or take disciplinary action against those named in cease and desist orders.

In recent years, the college has received two or three cease and desist orders annually. The process involves the Dean of Students office and an instructional session with Office of Information Technology staff.

"My fear is that the RIAA will get more aggressive" with this law on the books, Albina said.

Many students are sharing their files without even knowing it, Albina says, but the excuse of having "no idea, no intention of breaking the law" does not satisfy the RIAA.

Peer-to-peer software does have many legitimate applications, especially in an educational environment where the technology is an effective way to share large data and research files between researchers and institutions.

Saint Anselm does allow students to have peer-to-peer software on their computers and currently does not ban their use on the college network. However, he says it is not in students' best interest to use the software, and that he has not been approached by any students looking to use P2P for a research or class project.

"The most prudent thing to do would be to disallow P2P off campus because that would protect our students," Albina said. Not only would this prevent students from illegally downloading, it would also prevent their computers from being used as sources from which others can download.

"The best thing for students to do is to close the software," Albina said. The software often will automatically start when a personal computer is turned around, and students will be unaware that some contents of their hard drive are available for the world to see and download.

Albina has mixed feelings about the technology.

"It is a great idea," Albina said, and a very effective method to directly connect and share large data files.

But the technology also slows the internet connection for others because peer-to-peer applications hijack a significant portion of internet bandwidth. As far as network usage, accessing Facebook comes in second to Bittorrent, one of several popular peer-to-peer applications on campus.

"There's a lot of traffic out there generated," Albina said. "And we are a college, we do have an educational mission."

"We put a lot of technology in place to control bandwidth," Albina said. He compared the campus internet availability to a pipe with water flowing through; at some point, regardless of how much compression and speed is employed, more water, or data, can not be pushed through. Especially after serious issues in the spring of 2008, Information Technology installed additional software to prioritize internet traffic.

"We dedicated bandwidth to each student so they get what they pay for," Albina said. Information Technology also ranked email and general internet traffic above peer-to-peer applications.

"If you try to use p2p, you will not be so successful any more," Albina said.

Restricting peer-to-peer use from campus will not have an impact upon other technologies, including instant messaging software and legal music purchase.

THE LAW

Albina has been working with EduCause, the trade association for educational institutions and information technology. He has written letters, signed petitions, and supported EduCause's lobbying efforts against this legislation. The organization is currently shifting its emphasis to working with Department of Education officials, who will eventually determine what compliance means.

This process typically takes at least a year, and Albina expects details to be settled around July of 2010.

Compliance is expected to entail prioritization and shaping of internet traffic, both of which Saint Anselm College already does. The college also monitors network at line speed, or as data packets move across the network, and this data can be made available to investigators upon subpoena.

He does caution that requirements upon the college come with a price tag and "could have a major financial impact."

Until details are settled, Albina said the college is expected to comply in good faith with the law. At Saint Anselm College, compliance policies and plans will be written by the Information Technology Policy Committee, including Albina, faculty, staff from Communications and Marketing, and a student representative. Albina also says that student government will be informed of possible changes with significance upon the student body.

FREE MUSIC?

Not only does the law require schools to educate and combat illegal file sharing, it also requires consideration of other, legal methods for providing students with access to music, movies, and television content "to the extent possible."

Does this mean Saint Anselm College will begin providing free music to students?

"We've considered it for a number of years now," Albina said. "That's something that we'll consider, and we'll have to consider."

This article was published on October 24, 2008 on page 2 of the Saint Anselm Crier.