What is DMCA?

DMCA stands for Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
Passed in 1998, it includes a statement about a university’s responsibility to prevent online copyright infringement as an Internet Service Provider.

How do these DMCA complaints happen?

Copyright owners hire companies to log in to BitTorrent, Limewire, and other popular filesharing programs in order to find the IP addresses of computers sharing files illegally.  Using the IP address, the Internet Service Provider is tracked down and is notified that the computer is sharing a file illegally.  Appalachian State University’s Information Technology Services receives these notices and is obligated to “take down” the offending computer. People utilizing the university network are not anonymous, and illegal filesharing activity can be tracked.

I received a DMCA complaint…What do I do?

Information Technology Services has automated the process for the DMCA take down notices. We send the take down notice directly to the user who belongs to the computer registration (based on the ASU network registration system), and automatically remove the computer from the network.

Appalachian State University has implemented a graduated penalty system in place for first, second, and third+ offenses.

For a first offense - once you have followed the instructions in your email and responded, your network connectivity will be restored within 48 hours (normal business days).  If you believe the complaint is true, you must certify that the infringing content is removed from the computer. If you believe the complaint is false, you may contact the person who originated the notice (E.g. RIAA, MPA, etc.).

If a second offense occurs, the student must attend a workshop, and will lose *Internet access for 10 academic days.

If three or more offenses occur, the student will lose *Internet access for 75 academic days, and placed on probation.

When you receive a DMCA complaint—you must remove ALL infringing content from your filesharing program.

What can I do to avoid a DMCA violation?

Essentially, it is illegal to have any copyrighted material on your computer that you do not own. It is also important to note that you cannot share any file to which you do not have the legal right.

Copyright law currently allows the court to set fines between $750 and$150,000 per copyright infringement. While most of these cases are settled out of court, some of these settlement agreements have been in excess of $10,000.

Recently the Recording Industry (RIAA) has stepped up its efforts at targeting file sharers on college campuses. Appalachian State University received over 1,000 take down notices during the last two weeks of the spring 2008 semester.

Utilizing peer-to-peer software like Limewire and Bit Torrent are also great ways to get your computer infected with Spyware and Viruses!

DMCA violations constitute an infraction against our Acceptable Use Policy for computing at
Appalachian State University. For more information, please visit:
http://www2.acs.appstate.edu/computerpolicy.htm

 

Unauthorized DOWNLOADING (taking without purchasing) and UPLOADING (unauthorized sharing) copyrighted contents are both illegal actions.

 

 

Web Resources

Digital Millenium Copyright Act
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

RIAA Site for Campuses
http://www.campusdownloading.com/faq.htm

MPAA Anti-Piracy
http://www.mpaa.org/piracy.asp

Young people, music & the Internet
http://www.childnet-int.org/music

ASU Office of Student Conduct
http://studentconduct.appstate.edu