To the Editor:
Recently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reportedly reached a settlement with 50 Ohio University students that asked them to pay $3,000 each to avoid Internet piracy lawsuits. As part of its ongoing copyright crackdown, the RIAA has already sued about 18,000 computer users nationwide since Sept. 2003. The figure includes 1,062 computer users at 130 universities. Currently, UNH students are receiving similar letters from the RIAA, in advance of legal action.
The association said last month that it intended to sue more students and others on campuses in the next three months than it has in the past three years, and that it would send 400 letters a month to computer users suspected of copyright infringement. (Source, USA Today, March 9, 2007). Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications such as LimeWire, DC++, BearShare, Warez, Morpheus, BitTorrent, and iMesh make it easy for users to exchange files over the Internet. While these programs provide a way to share information, they are not entirely harmless and can cause serious issues for your personal system as well as the university network. Many of these programs perform aggressive network probing while looking for materials. Because these probes resemble computer worms, and because such probes are violation of the University's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), many P2P application users find their network access restricted. This article provides information necessary to help avoid violating federal copyright law, or exposing your computer to malicious code or unacceptable use when using peer-to-peer applications.
Copyright Issues File-sharing applications make it easy for you to share music, videos, movies, software, text and other files. However, unless you have the explicit permission of the copyright owner to possess or distribute the material, you may be in violation of federal copyright law. It is best to assume that all material is copyrighted. Also know that most p2p programs set themselves up as servers when they are installed and run for the first time. Every time that you run the program, it acts as a server, sharing the files in the Shared folder where it downloads the files.
The University cannot protect you from a copyright complaint. The UNH AUP prohibits the use of UNH IT resources, such as network connections, for illegal activity. Downloading music or videos illegally is violation of federal law. In fact, the university may be legally required to assist a complainant in pursuing action against you. The penalties can range from university sanctions to civil and criminal prosecution. Individual copyright owners and the entertainment industry are quite active in pursuing legal actions. You are not protected just because you received material at no cost or are distributing material with no charge. Your only protection is to steer clear of possessing or distributing any unlicensed copyrighted material. Remember, you are responsible for ensuring the integrity of your account. Users found to have violated the AUP are subject to penalties provided in other university policies dealing with the underlying conduct. Such users may also face information technology-specific penalties, including temporary or permanent reduction or elimination of some or all network access privileges. For More Information Before you install any program on your computer, especially a P2P application, read that program's documentation and disable, if possible, file-sharing access. For more information about file sharing, check out http://at.unh.edu/resnet/resources/filesharing.htm. If you experience problems after reading the web page, call the CIS Help Desk and Dispatch Center at 862-4242.
This information comes through resources provided by the Motion Picture Association of America and UNH Computing and Information Services. It has been compiled by Anne Lawing, Senior Assistant Vice President for Student and Academic Services, with assistance from Computing and Information Services staff.
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