College students like free things. Whether it is free food (arguably the only thing that retains this paper’s staff) or free music, people with low incomes tend to prefer not to pay for things they can otherwise get for free. In the case of digital media, the modern reality of widespread availability of free copies of media originally designed for sale has facilitated a widespread movement in support of file sharing and software piracy. At the same time, major institutions have tried to strike back at this rising tide of piracy, among them Stony Brook University.
