Copyright violations on demand
The Recording Industry Association of America has launched an offensive against file-sharing programs like LimeWire and Kazaa that enable the illegal reproduction of media.
As college students have been prevalently targeted as pirates in the past, the RIAA has appealed for a federal intervention that began holding schools responsible for controlling copyright infringement on campus this past summer.
Last year, Eastern was distinguished by the RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America as one of the top universities in the U.S. in terms of copyright violations.
“It caught us off guard,” said Adam Dodge, Eastern’s information security officer, who at one point sifted through more than 2,200 separate e-mails detailing every infringement committed on the campus network.
Each notice included a list of pirated content traced back to a specific IP address ultimately used for the school to identify the offender.
No legal action was taken against the university or any individuals.
“We are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping this unauthorized activity,” wrote Jeremy Landis, an RIAA representative in a January e-mail. “Specifically, we request that you remove or disable access to the infringing sound recording.”
The message provided a link to a list of technological anti-piracy tools employed by institutions with fewer infringement notices.
In response, Eastern’s Information Technology Services discontinued network support of all peer-to-peer programs that enable illegal file sharing except for “BitTorrent,” a popular medium among businesses for distribution purposes.
Unlike other engines that provide little to no legally shared content, BitTorrent has been deemed a cost-effective alternative capable of delivering legitimate files to large audiences.
The decision to exclusively support BitTorrent software on the school’s network was put into effect over the summer in preparation for the fall term in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. The legislation was originally established to require schools to help control the copying of intellectual property or risk compromising federal financial aid.
According to Dodge, the school network does not engage in any active monitoring of traffic unless presented with a valid request from entities such as law enforcement or a legal subpoena.
“We do not monitor for copyright infringement,” Dodge said. “Instead, we simply respond to the notices that we receive as required by law. These organizations are actively monitoring the file-sharing networks and use programs very similar to what students use to illegally download files. We do not allow external organizations the ability to monitor our network.”
Pleased to see the progress the school has made, Dodge urges students to continue to exercise responsibility when accessing the Internet.
“It’s definitely something the university can do without,” Dodge said. “So far this semester, we have seen very positive results with our policy changes. To date, the number of Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaints coming into the university have dropped over 80 percent from this same time last year.”
The school does, however, still occasionally receive notices of copyright violations committed on campus.
“During the period Sept. 21, 2009 through Sept. 28, 2009, I received 14 e-mails with a total of 14 alleged violations,” said Robert Miller of Eastern’s general counsel.
Network abuse is investigated prior to verification by comparing alleged activities to those documented in traffic logs.
The cost of copyright
Penalties may ensue these violations as determined by Eastern’s World Wide Web Appropriate Use Policy, which expressly states, “The use of ITS facilities or services that violate another person’s intellectual property rights is improper.”
If a provided IP address identifies a campus Internet user in breach of this policy, the offender may face disconnection from the network in their residence, as well as monetary fines from the university.
The first time a student offender is identified, they receive a letter from the Office of Student Standards explaining why their actions are in violation, and they are asked to make appropriate corrections. In many cases, this indicates the removal of copyrighted materials from their account.
“We recognize that many students download and share copyrighted materials without knowing that their actions are illegal, so we stress education and correction of the problem on the first notification,” said Heather Webb, director of student standards.
Webb said the protocol for penalizing repeat offenders includes the temporary disabling of a student’s personal Internet connection, as well as meeting to discuss the issue.
The student is then sanctioned to complete community service hours and pay a fine. After they complete their hours and fine, their personal Internet connection is restored.
Should an individual’s violations persist, their personal Internet connection will be disabled for a long-term period.
Hoping to reduce instances of infringement, as well as protect students from local and legal consequences, Dodge advises students to be vigilant when surfing the Web.
“As with any file-sharing application, students need to be sure that the movie, music, book or application they are downloading through BitTorrent is a legal copy,” he said. “Always remember, if you are downloading something for free that you would normally have to pay for, there is a 99.9 percent chance that it is an illegal copy.”
To view the full letter sent by the RIAA, click here.
Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
