America's universities are home to many of the great minds and future leaders of our nation and our world. It is on these campuses that knowledge and skills are developed and critical core values established. That is why the epidemic of music theft on our college and university campuses -- Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh included -- should concern us all.

Stealing music on the Internet -- just because it can be done easily and, as some mistakenly think, anonymously -- is somehow being accepted as OK. It is not OK. It is illegal. It steals the livelihoods of current artists, technicians and manufacturers and limits possibilities for future creative innovation. The acceptance of theft is not a value we desire for today's students, and it is a dangerous pollutant in a climate in which innovation and creativity are nourished and protected.

It was with this in mind that the Recording Industry Association of America, on behalf of the major record companies, took action last week against a new strain of the epidemic of music piracy emerging on our campuses. Of the 405 students at 18 universities identified in the new copyright infringement lawsuits, some 10 percent of them are enrolled at universities here in Pittsburgh.

Students stealing music on the Internet is not a new challenge for the higher education community. For several years now, students have been using peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications such as KaZaa and Grokster to illegally trade files containing copyrighted works. Even before last week's lawsuits, recording industry enforcement efforts had resulted in almost 10,000 lawsuits against illegal file sharers nationwide.

What is new about these latest cases is that an advanced, high-speed network -- specifically created by participating universities for important academic research -- has been hijacked for music theft. The network is called Internet2, and because of its speed, it is increasingly becoming the network of choice for students seeking to pirate copyrighted songs and other works on a massive scale. The use of P2P applications such as i2hub on the ultrafast Internet2 network allows students to trade copyrighted works at unprecedented speed and volume.

It's not hard to see why a determined music pirate would see this as hidden treasure. Using i2hub via Internet2, a movie can be downloaded in five or fewer minutes, a song in less than 20 seconds. On DSL or cable, a song might take one to two minutes and a movie an hour or two. Plus, there is a widespread, albeit false, perception that abuse on i2hub is undetectable.

Don't get me wrong -- the problem is not Internet2, which is a marvelous technological initiative to harness and expand the power of the Internet for research and learning. The problem is that this network, supported in part by taxpayer dollars, is being subverted for the illegal sharing of copyrighted files.

Forty-one students at CMU and Pitt are cited in the initial round of i2hub lawsuits filed last week. Combined, they've illegally shared a staggering 144,000 files, including more than 68,000 music files. And while the music industry can sue to help arrest the growth of this illegal activity, the universities themselves can be the most powerful leaders in curbing theft of copyright materials on campus.

Through filtering and other technical means, universities can prevent this mass piracy. Proactively, they can partner with legal music services to offer students legitimate music downloads -- as have 44 other universities (including Penn State). And through consistent education programs, they can continually remind users of the value of copyrighted works and the necessity of responsible use of network resources.

Through the 20th century, Pittsburgh was known as a national and world leader in innovation in industries ranging from minerals to steel to food production. Today, as we move into the 21st century, that spirit of innovation is alive and well on its university campuses, creating new ideas for the "new economy" and educating the next generation of leaders.

Yet, this epidemic of music piracy threatens that spirit of innovation today. Piracy undermines both Internet2's stated and noble purpose to promote research and higher education, and our ability to invest in the next generation of creativity. It threatens -- both in theory and practice -- to leave new ideas in science, industry and finance vulnerable to theft and abuse by anyone who can somehow find a way to uncover them in the ethernet. The music community may have taken the first blow; but if this rampant theft is left unchecked, other industries cannot be far behind.

As we educate the future leaders on campuses in Pittsburgh and throughout the nation, we have the opportunity to foster a climate where creativity is valued and respected. In this way, we can pave the way to a new century of innovation.