You may already know from the news media that *** is under intense scrutiny by
the Recording Industry of America and the Motion Picture Association of America
for the illegal use of Peer-to-Peer file sharing software by users of our
network. Using P2P file-sharing applications is not unlawful. However, it is
illegal to use such applications to download or make copyrighted materials
available to other users without permission. Even if the material, whether it is
a song, a movie, or software, was legally purchased by the owner, he or she must
take care to ensure that the material is not being inadvertently shared with
others.
Copyright infringement is a serious violation of the law, the Acceptable Use
Policy for the *** Network, and the Student Code of Conduct. In addition to ***
sanctions such as possible loss of network use privileges, members of the ***
community involved in this illegal activity could also be the subject of civil
and criminal actions imposed by the copyright owner. Statutory damage for
copyright infringements carries a minimum fine of $750 per item, song, or film.
Faculty, staff, or students who have installed peer-to-peer file sharing
programs on their computers and are concerned that they might be unwittingly
sharing files illegally should visit the University of Chicago's useful web page
(listed below) that describes how to disable file sharing on a variety of
programs.
Please help us continue to allow the legal use of this emerging technology on
campus. Do not share copyrighted materials illegally.
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