My sister was just sent this and she was wondering how serious it is. She uses the ip blocker and changed her port on her kazaa lite.
This message is being sent to all Faculty, Staff, and Students by
_______________________, with approval of the Office of the Vice
Provost.
To the Campus Community:
All of us have heard about the recent actions taken by the recording
and motion
picture industries to stop what they perceive as illegal copying of
music and
movies through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs. These
industries and
other content providers take seriously their interests. Materials such
as
music and movies continue to be protected by copyright even when freely
available on the Web.
The law that applies to these issues is copyright law, and, in
particular, the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA sets out procedures
copyright
owners can follow to put a stop to infringing activities. It allows
copyright
owners to formally notify an alleged infringer's internet service
provider
(ISP) to take action against the alleged infringer or itself become
liable for
the alleged infringements. For faculty and staff and students using
University
provided digital and internet connections, the University is the ISP.
The DMCA
also permits the copyright owner to require the ISP to reveal the
personal
identity of the alleged infringer, so that the copyright owner can sue
the user
directly.
Over the past year, the ________________________, like most other
colleges and
universities, has received DMCA notices alleging copyright infringement
over
University computing networks. The University does not tolerate or
condone
copyright infringement over University networks. Many University
faculty and
staff hold copyrights in their scholarly or professional work and
artistry, and
just as their rights need to be protected, so do others around the
world
deserve equal protection of their rights. Furthermore, large-scale
file
sharing can severely burden University servers and systems, making it
more
difficult and costly to meet the legitimate needs of University systems
users.
Granting access to University computer connections for email and
internet use
carries with it certain conditions. Those conditions include that
students,
faculty, and staff will not use them in ways that violate others'
copyright
interests. We ask that you abide by those conditions. Those who do not
may
face disciplinary action and permanent bans from access to University
computing
systems. This could be devastating to students performing coursework
and
faculty and staff completing job assignments.
The University's computing policy regarding compliance with copyright
law is
available at ________________________________________.
Please
review it. In addition, the American Council on Education has issued
an
informative white paper on peer-to-peer file sharing, which we commend
to your
reading. It is available at:
__________________________________________.
Sincerely,
_____________
Vice Provost
If you have questions or concerns about this issue, please reply to
___________________________.
