To: The Elon Community
From:
Gerald Whittington
Vice President of Business, Finance and Technology
Gerald Francis
Provost
Re: Illegal File Sharing of Copyright-Protected Materials
Over the past year, there have been numerous media reports about initiatives by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to prevent the illegal downloading of copyright-protected computer files, including movies, computer software, video games and photographs and especially MP3 music files. There have been well-publicized settlements of cases that have been brought against individuals, with certainly many more to come.
It is important that Elon take a position on these issues, since all members of the community share our common network and must operate within the law.
1. The University agrees that file sharing of copyright-protected music, movies, computer software, video games and photographs is illegal. The RIAA has shown increasing resolve in protecting property rights of artists. Damages can be up to $150,000 per infringement (or per song, for example.) The University is under no legal obligation to defend, or accept responsibility for, the illegal actions of students, faculty and staff in this context.
Further, we are advised that the University will be forced to provide the names and addresses of persons using the University’s internet connection when presented a legal subpoena, from the appropriate court, taken out by the RIAA and their legal team in their search for illegal file sharing of their protected intellectual property. This would include students, faculty or staff.
2. The University has a responsibility to make sure that all of its constituents know that this type of file sharing is illegal. Beyond the legal implications, a good argument can be made that ignoring the intellectual property rights of artists is a violation of the spirit of our own Honor Code.
We will discuss appropriate ways for this educational process to take place in a number of forums and meetings including Student Government Association meetings, faculty meetings and staff meetings, via E-Net articles and in correspondence with parents.
3. The University provides Internet connections for all faculty, students and staff at a considerable cost. Each year, expenditures increase as we expand use of the Internet. The bandwidth required for sharing of music and other large files is significant and takes away Internet resources of all of our constituents. To have this resource used in inappropriate and illegal ways is a concern for the entire community.
We ask the cooperation of all members of the Elon community in ensuring that we operate within the law, the spirit of the Elon Honor Code and within the practices of responsible use of the campus computer/network resources. If you have questions about this memo or the sharing of files, please contact us or Chris Fulkerson, Director of Instructional and Campus Technologies. Also, please refer to the following website for policies that relate to the appropriate use of institutional equipment and networks.
Website:
http://www.elon.edu/technology/policies.htm