Your computer may be uploading music without your knowing it.
Current technology easily allows your personal computer to duplicate and distribute copyrighted video images, audio recordings and other digital materials. Unfortunately this makes it is easy for you to violate College policy and US copyright law. For this reason you should know the use of popular and freely distributed file sharing programs to download copyrighted music and video material, in almost every case, places you in violation of College policy and U.S. law.
Most of these programs by default allow Internet users to copy files from your computer. Most programs don't alert you in advance or even ask your permission before turning your computer into an Internet file server. Some of these programs also install hidden components that allow file sharing to run in the background on your computer. As a result, whenever your computer is turned on, the file sharing application is also enabled, even if you don't open the application or actively use the program. They also open up a back door to your computer for viruses and worms. This places you at great risk of violating college policy and copyright law by becoming an unlawful distributor of copyrighted material. For example, what you may believe to be a single one-time policy violation consisting of downloading a single track of music from a popular CD is actually an around-the-clock violation of College policy and copyright law because any time your computer is turned on it is publicly announcing to the Internet (perhaps unknowingly to you) that the single music track you previously downloaded is now available on your computer for distribution via the Williams College network. Because the College has a reliable and large capacity connection to the Internet and because these file sharing programs favor computers connected to fast reliable networks, thousands of other Internet users flock to your computer to download your file. You can learn more about how to protect yourself from uploading files inadvertently at http://www.musicunited.org/5_takeoff.html.
OIT does not monitor normal computer use
OIT staff do not monitor computer use on the College network to look for copyright violations, but in the process of investigating network congestion or troubleshooting technical problems, they may become aware of policy violations. In such cases the OIT staff member will report these violations to the Chief Technology Officer who will consult with the Associate Dean of the College, the Director of Human Resources or the Dean of the Faculty.
The entertainment industry is aggressively seeking out copyright law violators
You also need to be acutely aware that law enforcement agencies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and other copyright holders of digital media such as HBO, Universal Studios, the Business Software Alliance, and the Entertainment Software Association actively monitor the Internet for users who are distributing copyrighted material. The recording, film and software industries have recently become very aggressive in their active pursuit of copyright infringement. They have spent millions of dollars, and they have hired hi-tech firms to develop and maintain software that is able to search the Internet and identify unauthorized distribution of their protected titles. This active monitoring is specifically designed to search for distribution of materials using the most commonly used software packages.
How Williams College handles Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices or early settlement letters
In the 2006-2007 academic year, Williams received almost 100 formal complaints from legal authorities representing copyright holders stating that computers on the College network were involved in the unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials. Each case was easily traced back to a computer connected to the campus network, running one of the common file sharing programs. Many of the cases involved unsophisticated and first-time use of these programs. It is clearly not safe to assume that even the most casual copyright policy violation will go undetected.
When a copyright holder or their agent contacts Williams about an occurrence of copyright violation with a standard DMCA notice, the school is required to take action. If you are suspected of infringement, the College's DMCA agent, the Chief Technology Officer, will confront you about the matter with an email notice. If you believe you are not responsible for the offending computer, you should notify the Chief Technology Officer immediately. If you are a student, all computers and other devices registered in your name will be removed from the Williams College network automatically for a period of one week once the Chief Technology Officer sends you the notice (or starting the next business day if the notice is sent on a weekend or holiday). You must respond to the Chief Technology Officer promptly that you have blocked access to the offending files or your computers and other devices will remain off the Williams College network indefinitely until she hears from you. If you are a faculty or staff member, the Chief Technology Officer will not immediately remove your computer from the network, but will notify the Dean of the Faculty (for faculty) or your supervisor and department head (for staff). But you must also respond promptly to the Chief Technology Officer that you have blocked access to the offending files or your computer will be removed from the Williams College network until she hears from you.
If you receive a notice and do not block access to the file(s), you have the right to petition the College to restore the computer to the network (for students, after the one-week College penalty), which it would do, while you pursued the matter legally with the alleged copyright holder or its designated agent.
If you block access to the file and notify the Chief Technology Officer, you do not need to respond to the agency sending the notice. Correspondence to this point is between the College and the agency, which does not have your identity. We will identify you to them only if they issue us a legal subpoena.
In March 2007 the RIAA began pursuing students more aggressively by sending out early settlement letters. A letter explaining this development was sent to all students in April 2007 by the Chief Technology Officer and the Associate Dean of the College. A similar letter was sent to faculty and staff. The DMCA notices we received in the past required you to remove or block access to the file. The new early settlement letters ask that you preserve but disable the software and the files. The College will not help or advise you in this process so, if you receive such a letter, you might wish to contact an attorney for assistance about how to respond.
In October 2007 the Chief Technology Officer, the Associate Dean of the College, the Dean of the Faculty and the Director of Human Resources sent second letters to returning students, faculty and staff. The letters updated the community on settlement letters and a subpoena received by the College. A similar letter had been sent to first-years in August before they arrived on campus urging them to delete their file sharing (P2P) programs before they came to campus.
Everyone must abide by copyright restrictions and the College's acceptable use policies as stated in our Computing Ethics and Responsibilities. By installing and running these common file sharing applications you put yourself at great risk, and unless you are technically sure your use of such programs is not a violation of College policy or the law, we strongly encourage you to avoid their use.
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for all uses of your computer, and that network use by a computer can be traced to its registered owner.
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This web page draws, with permission, from a similar web page at Haverford College.
