November 2006

Briefly speaking: New service for downloading music

Senior Kurt Oldenburg listens to his MP3 player while studying on campus. (Cheng Saechao/UC Davis)

Students have a multitude of entertainment options available to them online. And while it may be tempting to download the latest music hits to share with friends or take on the road, it's often illegal and a violation of UC Davis policy. The good news is that students are now being offered a free, legal way to access their favorite tunes.

The campus has joined with Cdigix, the leading digital media provider to colleges, in an effort to make students aware of the legal alternatives and to decrease illegal file sharing.

Students can sign up for the basic Ctrax service, which enables them to download as many music tracks as they want onto their PC from a library of more than two million songs from 100,000 artists in 23 genres.

Tracy Bennett, associate director of student housing, explains that these downloaded tracks are attached or "tethered" to a computer by an electronic license.

"You cannot burn these downloads to a CD or transfer them to a portable player or to someone else's computer," Bennett says. "While you do not actually own the tracks that you download, you can keep them and listen to them as long as you are a subscriber to Ctrax."

Upgraded service

Tracy Bennett of Student Housing. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)

Students also have the option to upgrade their subscription with the Ctrax2Go service at $6.99 per month, which allows them to download tunes onto an MP3 player. Both services permit students to legally download files as long as they are current subscribers and currently enrolled at UC Davis. Students must renew their subscriptions online each month. A third alternative is to permanently purchase song tracks at a cost of 89 cents each or $9.99 for an album.

Bennett encourages parents to learn about illegal filesharing and the alternatives. During the last academic year, UC Davis received almost 300 complaints of alleged copyright violations against students. Those found in violation are subject to disciplinary action including the loss of network privileges.

While the first offense may result in a warning, subsequent offenses can lead to legal action. Those cases are rare, Bennett says, but it has happened.

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