With the advancement of information technology and increased use of the World Wide Web, computer companies are wary of college students using the Web as a platform to distribute software illegally.
Software companies have now begun to crack down on software piracy, the illegal copying and distribution of copyrighted software.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a freshman at the University of Puget Sound was found distributing free copies of 100 software programs on his web page.
An employee of Emigre Inc. found the web page during a routine search of the Internet for illegal copies of his company's software, according to the Chronicle. The Software Publishers' Association decided to hold the student legally liable, instead of leaving punishment in the hands of the University, according to the Chronicle.
Dartmouth's Director of Computing Lawrence Levine said while it is "not condoned and against College policy," piracy probably occurs on a much smaller scale at the College.
Levine said Computing Services does not "police the computing environment," but does notice if a student's web page is visited more often than others.
"While managing the web server, and looking at popular or broken web pages, we might find some copyrighted material and software distribution," Levine said.
"There's been one instance where someone has blatantly offered software, and we contacted them," Levine said.
He said this case, like "99.9 percent of these cases," was settled after Computing Services contacted the student and told the student to stop.
However, most piracy at the College is more subtle. Matt Pearson '99, a computer sciences major, said most piracy happens when "people give a few friends free copies."
Pearson said it is easy to copy software without paying for it. "I know people who aren't that computer-savvy who have lots of free stuff on their computer. There are lots of servers you can connect to and pick up copyrighted material," Pearson said.
He said there are probably many students at the College with $100 to $1000 worth of pirated programs on their hard drives.
"After Dark, [a screen saver application], is pirated all over," Pearson said. "If someone has a new copy of After Dark, and you ask them to blitz it to you, of course it's illegal. But it's a rule everyone breaks."
Veyssel Naranjo '99, also a computer science major, said Shareware programs, such as the game Snood, are distributed for trial use but that people are technically supposed to pay for them if they intend to keep them.
"The Shareware people use at Dartmouth does not get licensed, and nobody pays for it," Naranjo said.
Naranjo also said he believes students "know what they are doing is wrong."
Jason Whaley '99, a computer sciences major, said copying software illegally is "as easy as dragging and dropping [onto your desktop]. I'd say it happens often."
Whaley said web pages that offer illegal copies of software are rare because, while they are "easy to set up, it's equally easy to get caught."
Pearson said although he has run across web sites that are illegally distributing software, he has never seen a web page on the College's server pirating software.
"To get a network connection, you have to go through Kiewit, and the instant you put your page up, Kiewit people would know your page was getting an inordinate amount of visits," Pearson said.
He said a web page that distributes illegal copies of software programs would require "lots of time and technical knowledge."
The people who run large pirating operations off of a web page must be stealthy and probably change their site's address often or have a subscription list people pay to be on to receive illegal software, he said.
Director of Computing Services Communications Bill Brawley said piracy at the College has not been "a big deal," but that "every once in a while there's a complaint about people passing around unlicensed software."
Brawley said he thinks piracy is not a major problem at Dartmouth because software is available off of the Key Server, and the College is "always adding things."
"There's not a whole lot of applications people can't get access to legitimately," Brawley said.
When people distribute illegal copies of software through BlitzMail, however, a "large enclosure can cause a major hiccup in the system and will be noticed," Brawley said.
Levine said students have a right to privacy, however, and Computing Services does not read e-mail or search people's hard disks for illegally-owned software when computers are brought in for repairs.
Brawley said the College takes preventive measures by educating students, faculty and staff about what software piracy is and how to avoid it.
The College's Computing Code, available on the Dartmouth home page, stresses that "unauthorized duplication or use of any software that is licensed or protected by copyright is theft."
"Someone spent a lot of time putting software together and they should be compensated for it," Brawley said.
If a warning from Computing Services does not stop a student from pirating software, Brawley said their actions will be "considered theft and can be adjudicated that way. It could go through that path to the Dean's Office."
However, Brawley said "people usually do it out of ignorance and don't know about the rule or implications of it."
College Legal Counselor Sean Gorman said he was not aware that software piracy has "ever been a problem for the College."
Gorman said he "doubts the College would be liable" if a student were caught distributing pirated programs by authorities outside of the College.
