A simple message about acquiring music, television shows, and videos via the internet
---------------- Protect yourself. Do it legally. ----------------
- Use legitimate music and video services (typically paying 99¢ per track)
- Middlebury has arrangements myTracks ($36/year for nearly unlimited downloads): see http://www.middlebury.edu/campuslife/services/digitalmusic/
- Consider www.ruckus.com which provides free services to College students. Try a trial subscription at www.spiralfrog.com, one of the newest services making an entrance into the U.S. market
- avoid the risk of prosecution by not sharing files you acquire, uinless they are clearly licensed for sharing
Although a popular activity, distributing a copyrighted file without permission of the copyright holder - whether on campus or via internet - is illegal (for more information, read www.campusdownloading.com/faq.htm ). Often such sharing utilizes peer-to-peer (P2P) network programs, such as bitTorrent or ourTunes.
Unless the use is fair use or otherwise legal, such distribution of copyrighted works without permission also constitutes a violation of College policy (see Collge Handbook, Library & Information Services, Responsible Use of Computing and Network Service and Facilities , section 1a).
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have warned schools, including Middlebury among 40 other colleges and universities, about activity on campus local area networks including "the use of programs such as Direct Connect (DC++), MyTunes and OurTunes to engage in such activity on campus LANs without using the broader public Internet," RIAA announced in April 2006 that it intends to "prioritize our focus on campus LAN piracy in the coming year."
In March 2007, the RIAA announced a new program. It sends settlement letters to internet service providers, requesting that they pass the letters on to users associated with a particular network address. The letter offers the user the option of paying $350/song within 20 days, rather than facing a possible court case and higher fines. Students at 150 different colleges and universities have received these notices.
Recording companies, HBO, movie and video producers and other content owners do in fact monitor the internet to find computers distributing copyrighted files. Middlebury College receives notices of alleged infringements, and under the law we contact users we believe associated with such activity.
You may be subject to legal action: indeed, in the past two years, many colleges and universities have responded to subpoenas for the identity of users who allegedly download and share copyrighted material using file sharing programs, and hundreds of students have faced law suits in the tens of thousands of dollars for distribution of copyrighted songs, television shows, or movies.
---------------- Protect yourself. Do it legally. ----------------
for more information:
Jeff Rehbach, LIS Policy Advisor
Middlebury College Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Agent
Library 202C
802 - 443 - 5811