Editorial in Northern Star: Online file sharing is not a crime

I guess we somehow missed this editorial written by John Benson last week. He's responding to ITS's decision to disable Internet access for student file sharers if they see suspicious activity.

Some notables from John's editorial:

"In an environment where students share computers and set up ad hoc wireless networks for educational (and, let’s face it, gaming and entertainment) purposes, it’s not always easy to prove, exactly, who did what....


There are perfectly legitimate reasons one might transfer a lot of data for educational purposes, and I encourage students to investigate for themselves the Internet Archive and Creative Commons, where a plethora of information and digital media is freely available and freely distributed....


Suspending students from the network without concrete evidence that they’ve broken the law seems pretty bold to me. If I still lived in the residence halls, I’d be terrified. The absence of due process is scary indeed."


I couldn't have said it better. There have been no comments on the article on the Northern Star website. Leaving your thoughts there might help to spur discussion.