As the availability of music online increases, a local teacher theorizes that students view illegal downloading of music more and more as acceptable behavior — the University of Idaho is responding with a crack down.
“Students don’t view (illegal) downloading as unethical or stealing,” said Darryl Woolley, an assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business and Economics.
The majority of students admit they download music illegally and view it as socially acceptable, he said. 

According to Woolley, students are more willing to admit they illegally download music in front of their professors than admitting they cheat.
“It’s not like shoplifting because the person you got it from still has it,” he said.
Director of Campus Life and Student Conduct Laura Hutchinson said she thinks many students download music illegally because they can’t afford to go out and buy the CD, and it’s more convenient to download than  going to a store.

To help decrease the amount of illegal downloading on campus, information technology services and the office of the Dean of Students has and will continue to charge students with unauthorized computing access and illegal downloading, Hutchinson said.
Students can get caught downloading music illegally when a recording industry notifies the university. ITS will then contact the student and inform them there are illegal files on their computer and they need to delete them. If the files are not deleted, ITS reports it to the Dean of Students, the student is then brought in for questioning and if it is not resolved the student is charged with theft.

If they admit to it there is an administration fee of $25. They will also watch a recording industry video about how illegal downloading is not acceptable and write a paper about what they learned. If the problem is not resolved, the theft of music can stay on that person’s record for up to seven years, Hutchinson said.
“If you’re doing it and are caught, just resolve it,” she said.

When students download music, they are stealing for the recording industry, Hutchinson said.
“If you are downloading, the computing system will catch you,” she said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
The environment students are in influences the amount of students who download music, Woolley said. A student’s peers have more influence on the decision than anyone else and most students cut back on illegal downloads less when they graduate from college.
“You sort of expect it at a college level, but now we are seeing it at a graduate level,” Hutchinson said. “It has gotten out of hand.”
At different universities, faculty and staff have been fired for illegal downloading.

“(Illegal downloading) is like walking into Wal-mart and taking a CD without paying for it,” Hutchinson said.
Woolley began researching attitudes of software piracy in 1999 and only began researching music piracy two years ago. He has measured software and music piracy on three different campuses by surveying sophomores.
Software piracy has decreased over the years and Woolley believes music piracy will also decrease by shutting down the availability on the Internet. With companies such as iTunes, CD sales will continue to decrease, he said.
Hutchinson said illegal downloading is becoming like underage drinking — more and more people are doing it.
Recording companies try and track people who share music and sue them for theft, Woolley said.

“Later down the road, you can loose your job for downloading,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said ITS hands out flyers containing information about illegal downloading and how it can happen without the individual knowing it.
For questions about illegal downloading, contact ITS at 885-6721 or e-mail them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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