want to have my Empeg Mark II connected to my computer via ethernet so that other people on the network in my dorm can download music off of it whenever they want to.

I'm trying not to sound too "holier-than-thou" about this, but this sort of music theft encouragement is just what the RIAA loves to propagandize about. You will be surprised at how many people on this bbs will take exception to this plan.

It sounded to me like the folks at his dorm would be his friends, and that's pretty much explicitly allowed, otherwise, we wouldn't be paying additional taxes on blank recording media that's remitted to the recording industry. That is, these are probably people to whom he would loan his CDs if they came by and asked to borrow them.

OTOH, if it's just everyone in the university, you'd probably be right.