Sharing Music, Movies, and Software over the Lynchburg College Network
Many people have engaged in downloading and sharing digital content - music, movies, software, and photographs -- over the Internet. As a responsible member of the Lynchburg College community, you must remember that you are expected to comply with College policy and appropriate laws. Of particular interest should be the College's Technology Acceptable Use Policy (see The Hornet)
WHAT YOU CAN DO
•Make a backup copy of a CD, a DVD, or software that you purchased
•Copy music or movies that you purchased to your computer
•Copy music or movies that you purchased to your PDA, iPod, or MP3 music device
•Make a CD for yourself from music you purchase from appropriate sites on the Internet
A list of websites offering legal downloading of copyrighted media is available at http://www.campusdownloading.com/legal.htm.
WHAT YOU CANNOT DO
•Share, for others to download, music, movies, or software via a network (over the Internet)
•Make copies of a CD, DVD, or software to give to a friend or that you borrowed from a friend
•Distribute for personal gain music you have purchased or downloaded
•Download music, movies, or software without purchasing it
CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATIONS
•Disciplinary action through the College's judicial process
• Prosecution by the RIAA*, the MPAA*, or other media representatives for violation of copyright law
•Fines can be levied up to $150,000 per instance of copyright violation
* RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America); MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America); Note that the RIAA and the MPAA have filed hundreds of copyright violation lawsuits and have settled many for fines of $4,000 - $12,000. Fines for cases they have won in court range from $12,500 to $17,000. RIAA and MPAA have issued thousands of subpoenas for information from network service providers, asking for disclosure of names associated with IP addresses. Currently, the RIAA and the MPAA are focusing all of their efforts exclusively on colleges and universities.
A Note on File-Sharing Software
File-sharing software (Limewire, Kazaa, BitTorrent, etc.) usually installs such that sharing is automatically turned on. Note that the software often also installs "spyware," software that tracks your activity on the Internet and displays targeted advertisements. Spyware interferes with the operation of Internet browsers and may prevent you from accessing your e-mail via the Web interface, Blackboard, and StudentsOnline.