Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Student Rights’ Committee finalized a task force Wednesday night to look into the zero-tolerance downloading policy that the University of Kansas administration adopted this summer.
When the Student Rights’ Committee met two weeks ago, it drafted legislation which would have effectively asked the administration to repeal the policy. That legislation failed in full Senate last week, and instead Senate created a task force to look into the issue and work with the administration.
The Student Rights’ Committee elected two members who will serve on the task force along with the student body president and vice president, the chair of the student executive committee and two members of full Senate.
The task force will also deal with the 14 lawsuits filed in September by the Recording Industry Association of America against KU students for illegally file sharing. The University is awaiting a subpoena from the RIAA, which will require the University to provide the names of the 14 students whose Internet protocol addresses were identified by the RIAA.
Todd Cohen, director of University Relations, said that once the University received the subpoenas, they would follow the due process of the law.
“We’re going to protect their privacy,” Cohen said. “We’re not just going to hand over their information.”
The Student Rights’ Committee elected Mason Heilman, Lawrence sophomore and chair of the Student Rights’ Committee, and Lawrence senior Ian Staples. Heilman temporarily stepped down from chairman for his election to the task force.
Heilman said that he had a unique perspective to bring to the issue because he was a residence hall senator and had observed the reaction of his constituents to the zero-tolerance policy.
“I think that the zero-tolerance policy has the right intentions, but may not be the best way to pursue the goals of preventing an illegal activity while also trying to protect the students,” Heilman said.
Staples said he would like to use the task force to look into a possible lack of communication among University administrators regarding the policy.
“I think there are questions that we haven’t even begun to answer,” Staples said. “I think there is a level of incompetence and people just not doing their job.”
The zero-tolerance policy immediately cuts off Internet access for students who violate the policy in the residence halls. Cohen said that universities throughout the country were watching the issue of illegal file sharing unfold in situations such as the current one at the University.
Cohen said that the issue was difficult because it hadn’t been around long enough to establish an effective method of dealing with it.
Cohen also said that the University made it clear to KU students living in the residence halls that loss of Internet and legal consequences were possible outcomes of file sharing illegally on campus.
“The simple answer is don’t download illegally and you won’t have these problems,” Cohen said. “The students need to recognize they’re mature adults and they’re going to suffer the consequences.”
Edited by Elizabeth Cattell
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