The Digital Freedom Campaign introduced its first college chapter earlier this month at James Madison University in Virginia.

The campaign, which is opposed to the illegal downloading of digital music, is composed of an array of artists and consumers. Their goal is to find a balance between the rights of the consumer and those of artists, while still keeping the labels and studios happy.

“The campaign hopes these Digital Freedom University chapters can serve as a base for students to organize among themselves and with other universities,” said Don Goldberg, a member of the the Digital Freedom Campaign, adding that he thinks the campaign will help students “discuss the appropriate uses of technology and debate how best to protect ‘fair use’ rights of consumers while ensuring content producers are compensated fairly.”

Students who participate will not only have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the digital rights, he said, but other fields as well.

“We also hope these chapters can connect consumers and artists on college campuses to identify innovative opportunities for artists to reach new audiences and monetize new revenue streams provided by new digital technologies,” he said.

The idea for the campaign has been in the making for a number of years. There has been an ongoing discussion between a wide range of interested parties such as consumer groups, public interest organizations, and online industry They too, feel that there is a need for a greater voice in the fight against content producing industries that are affecting their businesses.
Members of the Digital Freedom Campaign believe that new technologies should not be subject to unreasonable government restrictions.

The campaign has its doors open to all who wish to become involved, as they hope to soon have chapters across the country. Goldberg invites anyone that is interested to contact the organization through its Web site so that they can find more information on how to open a Digital Freedom University Chapter. He also urges students to sign the campaign’s “Bill of Sights and Sounds.”

“This will help the campaign to show policymakers the large base of student support that exists for the protection of consumer, innovator, and artist rights in the digital age,” he said.