August 15, 2007
To: Members of the class of 2011
From: Dinny Taylor, Chief Technology Officer and Charlie Toomajian, Associate Dean of the College
Subject: Delete Your File Sharing (P2P) Programs Before You Come to Campus
When you arrive on campus, you will benefit from the high speed network we provide for your academic work and social computing. Unfortunately, many students use the network to share copyrighted material illegally using popular file sharing programs such as Bit Torrent or Limewire. Because our network has such high bandwidth, these file sharing programs easily allow others to upload files that you have on your computer, even when you may not be aware of it.
We strongly urge you to delete your file sharing programs before you come to campus. New actions by the RIAA and other associations representing copyright holders may cost you thousands of dollars the first time you are caught sharing files illegally. You are vulnerable as soon as you connect to our network. Nine people at Williams received settlement letters from the RIAA last spring. The choice was to pay $3,000 immediately or wait for further legal action that guaranteed higher penalties. Most did not realize they were allowing files to be uploaded from their computers.
The College does not scan the network for illegal traffic in copyrighted material and cannot protect you from the legal recourse that exists for copyright holders, who do scan the network. The best way to protect yourself from potentially expensive legal complications 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 song 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.
Illegal file-sharing using peer-2-peer file sharing programs is strictly prohibited both by College policy and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"). All members of the Williams community are responsible for their illegal file sharing and must assume all resulting liabilities without support from the College. 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 DMCA 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 mention these matters not to alarm you, but rather to help you avoid an unnecessary and costly encounter when you get to campus. Please do not hesitate to contact either of us if you have any questions about these very important matters.
