MSU Network

Randall Hall works in Academic Computing & Network Services (ACNS) to ensure compliance of MSU's network acceptable use policy. He also leads investigations of illegal activities.

According to Hall, there are three distinct ways that a copyright holder can act if they see a violatioon of their property rights.

“One is...complaining to the [Internet Service Provider], "said Hall. "In this case it’s us, MSU, for the students. That’s the most common way. The second most common way is to take the matter to court. They send out a pre-litigation letter, which is an option to settle before any legal action is taken. And then finally – and this is the rarest form – is that they can actually be handled in criminal court. So they would go to the FBI actually.”

One of Hall's main objectives is to prevent that from happening. “We have a three-pronged approach: educating the students wherever we can about illegal fire sharing, enforcement of our policies, and providing a legal alternative," said Hall.

That alternative at MSU is called Ruckus, a music downloading service that is free to students living on campus. "I think it’s really made an impact,” said Hall. Ruckus was scheduled to debut a new movie and television service in Fall 2007, but they are running behind schedule.

Some universities are wilfully attempting to filter their network for copyrighted material. Hall compares MSU's action to that of Florida State, a school that used technology to fight network piracy.

“We found that, with the number of complaints [Florida State] received prior and after implementation, we actually lowered our numbers as much as they lowered theirs,” said Hall. “We took the approach with enforcement, education and alternative. We’ve taken care of it to the same extent with a fraction of what they spent on it.”

Money isn't the only thing cause for concern among network administrators. Hall says that filter vendors "are a little grey as to what they do and what information they collect, so there’s some privacy issues we’re worried about,” said Hall.

Despite the ongoing illegal activities on MSU's network, Randall recognizes the positive effects of technology and the Internet on the MSU community. “We don’t want to shut down peer-to-peer file sharing altogether. The technology isn’t bad altogether. It’s actually a good thing. It’s just the abuse of that technology that has been a bad thing.”

Scroll down to see a graph of complaints by copyright holders submitted to MSU's Network.

The number of complaints issued by copyright holders -- owners of music, movies, software, and other electronic files -- to MSU have dropped over the past few years, likely in response to the actions of MSU network administrators like Randall Hall. (*2007-08 data represents the partial school year.)

(Source: Randall Hall)