Information Technology at Goucher College

Policies

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Copyright Law

In the past few months, industry organizations (e.g. Recording Industry Association of America: RIAA [ http://www.riaa.com/ ]) have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against individual college students who have used file sharing programs to share copyrighted material. More lawsuits are expected in the near future. Some uses of the peer-to-peer technologies are perfectly legitimate but some activities are not (e.g., copying and sharing of music files without the authorization of the copyright owner). Goucher College wants you to be aware of these issues and situations.

To avoid the risk of potential lawsuits due to copyright infringement, the college is advising students to carefully restrict the use of file sharing applications to material that is legal to share, to disable the file sharing software, or to change the file sharing options for the software.

Violation of copyright law can have serious consequences in the area of:

Civil Liability: Persons found to have infringed may be held liable for substantial damages and attorneys fees. The law entitles a plaintiff to seek statutory damages of $150,000 for each act of willful infringement. In the cases filed by the RIAA against students at Princeton, RPI, and Michigan Tech, the recording industry sued for damages of $150,000 for each recording infringed.
Criminal Liability: Copyright infringement also carries criminal penalties under the federal No Electronic Theft Act [ http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/17-18red.htm ]. Depending on the number and value of the products exchanged, penalties for a first offense may be as high as three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The college supports a climate of trust and respect and does not ordinarily read, monitor, or screen electronic mail, Internet Access, or the computer activities of individuals. The college expects students to be aware of current laws and applicable college policies with respect to computer, network, and Internet activities.

To be in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=141 ], the College has designated an agent [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=141 ] to receive notices of copyright infringement from copyright owners. If the College receives notification from a copyright owner that you have engaged in infringing activity, it will investigate the complaint, and, if appropriate, notify you to take down the offending material and cease from engaging in such conduct. In addition, if you violate copyright law by engaging in unauthorized file sharing, you may be subject to discipline under the College’s Computer Use Policy [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=40 ] and other applicable College policies. Violations of copyright law may also subject you to civil and criminal prosecution. For more information, please see the Policies section [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?section_id=33 ] of the Information Technology web site [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm ].

Policies: Additional Information

Computer Use Policy [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=40 ]
Computer and Printer Replacement Guidelines [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=95 ]
Computer Quotas and Data Retention [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=79 ]
Guidelines for Campus-wide E-Mail [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=96 ]
Information Security Program (DRAFT) [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=115 ]
Electronic Communication Policy (DRAFT) [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=116 ]
Intellectual Property Policy (DRAFT) [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=117 ]
Copyright Policy (DRAFT) [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=123 ]
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Compliance [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=141 ]
System Administrator Policy [ http://www.goucher.edu/it/index.cfm?page_id=144 ]