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The University of California and California State University systems last week selected Cdigix, a provider of legal digital media, to offer broadband-based digital entertainment to campuses that decide to use it, according to a CSU press release.

The selection is part of an effort to respond to student demands as well as curb illegal file sharing on university networks, though the agreement between the UC and the company does not require individual campuses to use this service.

The UC and CSU systems established minimum requirements to use as a baseline to determine which service provider campuses would like to sign a contract with in the coming months, said Jonathan Curtiss, manager of technological development for student and campus affairs at UCLA.

According to UC data, the UC and CSU issued a joint request in 2005 for proposals to online digital media providers in order to secure competitive choices for campuses that choose to offer such services.

In June, four services – Napster, Cdigix, Sony and Mindawn – were selected as candidates that each campus could choose. The UC is still negotiating with the other providers.

Regardless of which providers each campus decides to contract with, there must be some consistency among the schools, such as price, Curtiss said.

The company, based in Colorado, charges $3 per month for its subscription music services and $5.99 for its video services.

UCLA has not determined which service they would like to use, though it would take longer to establish subscription services because they require more hardware that would have to be installed on campus, Curtiss said.

Such digital media providers will be available to all UCLA students at a special student rate still to be determined. UCLA will not be subsidizing the cost of such services, Curtiss said.

Students will be able to join as many of the providers as they want to and will be billed accordingly by each company rather than through their BAR account on URSA.

Currently, anyone can contact any server and pay to download music, but it would be at a retail rate. As soon as UCLA signs a contract with a vendor, a special student rate will be determined at which they could pay for the same services.

The student rate would be available to anyone who has a connection to Bruin Online, meaning the media providers would not be limited to students living on-campus, Curtiss said.

He said that UCLA is in no way receiving any benefits by providing such services to students.

“It’s only to benefit students,” Curtiss said.

The agreement with Cdigix is the latest attempt by the UC to deal with illegal file sharing on its campuses and the legal consequences that follow.

Several weeks ago, the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents major record labels, subpoenaed UCLA to release the names of five students who were illegally file sharing.

Those five students have been notified, but because such information is confidential, their names have not been released to the public, said Judy Lin, a UCLA spokeswoman.

Those students were part of a series of lawsuits filed by the RIAA against 91 university students for illegal copyright infringement. Seven of the 91 university students were from UCLA.

This was the first time that UCLA students were the recipients of such legal action.

“UCLA is taking very seriously the law where it’s illegal for students to exchange electronic media without paying for it,” Curtiss said.

Adoption of a legal downloading service like Cdigix would be the first time UCLA has offered its students a specific alternative to illegal file sharing.

More than 50 colleges and universities in the United States offer licensed music services to their students, according to the RIAA.

Under the Federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act, UCLA has received copyright infringement notices from the RIAA of IP addresses that have illegally shared files.

UCLA does not monitor students’ Internet activities and is only made aware of copyright infringements when notices are received from the RIAA, Curtiss said.

Upon receiving a copyright infringement claim, the offending machine is identified and put into quarantine.

The “quarantine process” that was launched in April 2004, shuts the offending computer off from external or Internet networks while still allowing access to the internal network that includes school sites such as MyUCLA and URSA, which allows for students to continue many of their educational activities, Lin said.

In quarantine, students are blocked from illegal file sharing. In order for access to the external network, the student must sign an agreement to remove the allegedly infringing material.

The agreement is not an admission of guilt, Lin said.

Upon signing the agreement, Internet access is restored within 24 hours.

Multiple offenses may result in being referred to the dean of students and other possible sanctions.

Only students living on campus or using the university wireless network can have their computers quarantined, Lin said.

This unique approach to reprimanding students for illegally sharing files is the reason why Associate Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Jim Davis testified before Congress on Oct. 5.

“The UC culture is one of strong respect for copyright and the law, but also strong respect for due process and privacy,” Davis said to Congress, in referring to the quarantine process.

With reports from Bruin wire services.