October 15, 2007
To: Returning Students
From: Dinny Taylor, Chief Technology Officer and Charlie Toomajian, Associate Dean of the College
Subject: Illegal file sharing can cost you thousands of dollars
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other organizations continue to pursue people who share copyrighted music and other copyrighted materials. Last spring the RIAA sent nine early settlement letters to Williams to pass on to those who had shared music. Our understanding is that the early settlement costs ranged from $3,000 to $5,000 depending on how quickly the person settled. The RIAA appears serious about following up with those who do not pursue the early settlement option. Over the summer we received one subpoena for identifying information about a person who had chosen not to settle early. All members of the Williams community are responsible for their illegal file sharing and must assume all resulting liabilities without support from the College.
We received three preservation notices from the RIAA this summer. Preservation notices warn the College that the association will later send early settlement letters for those infringements. So far this year we have also received eight traditional Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices from the RIAA that simply require blocking the files. These may or may not lead to early settlement letters. The RIAA is not consistent in this process so we can’t predict their actions, although we do know that Bucknell, Carleton, Gettysburg, Smith and Swarthmore received a total of 17 settlement letters on August 15th. Considering the preservation notices we received, we imagine that Williams will be receiving more early settlement letters as well.
We have also received other DMCA notices already this fall from HBO for TV series, Paramount Studios for movies, and from the Entertainment Software Association for games. In one case the TV show had been purchased legally, but the person had file-sharing software that allowed the show to be uploaded illegally from the computer.
The College does not scan the network for illegal traffic in copyrighted material and will not protect you from the legal recourse that exists for copyright holders, who do scan the network. The best way to protect yourself from potential copyright infringement claims is to not download and serve music, TV shows, movies, or software that you have not acquired with permission to share legally. Although P2P programs allow you to obtain copyrighted songs and video materials easily, when you download the P2P software, it will typically then use your computer and the campus network to serve these materials out to others without informing you. Even if serving these materials is not your intention, doing so places both you and the College at risk. See www.musicunited.org for more information. We urge you to remove all file sharing software from your computers. If you need assistance you can contact Desktop Systems at desktop@williams.edu and they will set up a time to help you remove the program.
If the RIAA or another agency sends the College a letter threatening to sue you along with a settlement offer, we will forward that letter to you. The association does not automatically know your identity but they do know your computer's identification number and can obtain a subpoena legally forcing the College to identify you. While we are not obligated by law to pass on to you the association's letter threatening to sue, at this time we believe that we should so that you can make a more fully informed decision on what to do. The College will not provide you with legal help or advice in this process so, if you receive such a letter, you might wish to contact an attorney for assistance about how to respond. The RIAA is just as likely to take this action for a first offense and you may face legal and financial decisions the first time you are caught sharing material, even inadvertently.
In addition to the potential legal exposure under Federal copyright law, illegal file-sharing using peer-2-peer file sharing programs is also prohibited by College policy. If the College receives information about a student's illegal file sharing, in addition to notifying the student, we will disconnect the offending computer from the College's network for one week. For subsequent offenses, the student will also meet with Dean Toomajian and disciplinary action will be likely. To learn more about how the College handles copyright infringement notices from the entertainment, music and other copyright holders, go to our policy about http://wiki.williams.edu/display/docs/File+Sharing+and+Copyright+Violations.
We are writing to you about these matters to help you avoid an unnecessary and costly encounter when using P2P software. Please do not hesitate to contact either of us if you have any questions about these very important matters.
