At local universities, orientations cover the basics: activities at the student union, operating hours at the cafeteria, and oh yes, no downloading or sharing music files if you live in the dorms and have a campus Internet connection.

That's college life in 2003.

"We're really not trying to be Big Brother. Our primary concern is a safe and functioning computer network," said John Denune, technology and security officer at San Diego State University.

The Recording Industry Association of America has made it clear that despite amnesty for some, it will continue to file lawsuits against individuals who illegally download and share copyrighted files. And some universities around the country have been subpoenaed by the RIAA over the issue.

That hammer alone is enough to make universities take action.

There's another motive, too: In recent years, universities have found their high-speed Internet networks clogged and sometimes paralyzed because of students downloading and sharing music and video files.

So, these institutes of higher education are doing what they do best: educating students about the issue, even including the issue in orientation programs.

At UCSD, students start school Sept. 29. Not long after, an estimated 6,500 undergrads living in resident housing will receive a letter about proper use of their university-sponsored Internet connections – just in case they missed the information in their original packets about living in resident housing.

Next, the university will put informational cards on the tables in the cafeteria "to help keep the issue in people's minds," said Anthony Wood, UCSD's director of academic computing services.

At California State University San Marcos, where 460 students recently moved into new campus housing, "everyone has a pillow with a port," said Rick Moore, campus spokesman.

That means that in their rooms, each student gets a bed and a high-speed Internet connection for a computer.

But first, Moore said, students have to sign an agreement saying they won't use "excessive bandwidth or engage in peer-to-peer file sharing."

The University of San Diego plans to "explore ways to inform students about legal ways to access music over the Web," said Liz Harman of USD.

"We hope it will be an incentive. We will tell them what they can't do – and also what they can do," as far as downloading music legally.

Monitoring

Both UCSD and SDSU use a hardware and software product, PacketShaper, by Cupertino-based Packeteer that helps monitor and identify file-sharing streams on computer networks.

It's file-sharing that winds up being the biggest problem.

"If a person downloads a song once, that's different than that song being shared 100 times" by other students using a server and the campus' Internet connection, said Denune.

PacketShaper doesn't identify specifically what is being downloaded or shared, said Wood of UCSD.

"We don't look at content; we stay as far away from that as possible, because of all the privacy issues that would raise. We deal only with traffic."

However, copyright holders and the RIAA are looking at content.

'Constant battle'

Last year, Wood said, UCSD received 200 complaints from the RIAA and copyright holders about student downloaders and file-sharers.

Almost all cases were resolved quickly, with students agreeing to discontinue their activities immediately.

Only three students drew "multiple complaints," Wood said.

Those students' cases were referred to the university's office of judicial affairs.

"Basically, the student gets counseled at a little more intense level," said Wood.

"They're told 'three strikes,' and then we need to do something to restrict their Internet access."

Live on campus without high-speed Internet access? The thought alone is enough to stop the illicit activities.

"Typically, one warning has been enough," said Denune of SDSU.

When that doesn't work, he said, the university can take the student's computer off the campus network until a hearing is set by SDSU's judicial affairs office.

The most severe punishment could include a student being kicked out of campus housing. That has yet to happen, Denune said.

But, as any techie will tell you, even with the help of a special program like PacketShaper, someone determined to beat the system will.

"Most of the software the students use for this kind of activity has become more stealthy and gotten more sophisticated," said Wood.

Said Denune: "It's a constant battle."