An Open Letter to the University Community:
Serious Penalties for Abuse of Copyrights on the net
April 28, 2003

On April 2, 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
filed a lawsuit against four university students from Princeton
University, Michigan Technological University and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute for sharing songs with other students through
their university networks. These lawsuits could result in
multi-million dollar judgments against the students and possible
expulsion from their respective universities. Fifteen more people,
including a Duke University student, are currently awaiting sentencing
after pleading guilty to charges of violating federal copyright laws
on the Internet. Their sentences could result in jail time in a
federal penitentiary and very substantial fines. These cases are all
a part of a renewed push by private industry and the federal
government to protect copyrighted materials. The intensity of legal
action and public attention to the problems created by misuse of file
sharing technology make these issues unavoidable for universities.

The University of Denver prohibits the use of its networks and systems
for the purpose of committing violations of law, including the
copyright laws of the United States.

Federal law prohibits the reproduction, distribution, public display
or public performance of copyrighted materials over the Internet
without permission of the copyright holder, except in accordance with
fair use or other specifically applicable statutory exceptions. It is
alleged that the majority of the music, games and videos distributed
through file-sharing programs are done without the permission of the
copyright holder. In addition, many of these programs automatically
give other users access to files on the sender's computer, so the
sender can be guilty of distributing these materials without his or
her knowledge. This can be an extremely costly mistake as the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (1998) and the No-Electronic Theft Act (1997)
allow for potential jail time and substantial fines for the illegal
downloading of even one song.

Copyright owners have begun to use highly sophisticated
"sniffer" programs to aggressively search for people who are
providing copyrighted songs and videos to others over the Internet.
Further, the RIAA and other trade associations are stepping up their
efforts to lobby local and federal governments to increase the number
of prosecutions they seek.

If you are using a file-sharing program and are on the University's
network (including its modem pool), you should consider removing it
from your system. If you choose not to remove the application, please
do not use the system to transmit proprietary material and you should
immediately ensure that your system is set to prevent sharing of files
from your computer with others. The University of Chicago has set up
a web page with instructions on how to disable this function on some
of the more common peer-to-peer clients.
[ http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/no_fileshare.shtml ]

The University of Denver is committed to the well being of our
students, faculty and staff as a part of our educational mission. In
this context, we are also committed to full observance of all
copyright and information security laws. As such, the University
complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998), and may
terminate the network access of users who are found to repeatedly
infringe the copyright of others, and may take such other disciplinary
measures as it deems appropriate. The University is currently in the
process of developing and publishing its own policies and procedures
for dealing with alleged incidents of copyright infringement and will
widely distribute and publicize these upon completion. In the
meantime, we encourage all members of our community to become familiar
with the laws pertaining to the use of digital material
[ http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ ] and to comply with federal law
regarding use of copyrighted materials.

John D. Coombe
Vice Chancellor
Intellectual Property and Events

Kenneth R. Stafford
Vice Chancellor
University Technology Services

Paul H. Chan
University Counsel
Office of the University Counsel


For more information on this subject:

Hollywood chases down campus pirates (news.com, 10/10/2002)
[ http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961637.html ]

Fingerprinting P2P pirates (news.com, 02/20/2003)
[ http://news.com.com/2100-1023-985027.html ]

RIAA turns up heat on file-trading at work (news.com, 03/18/2003)
[ http://news.com.com/2100-1027-993143.html?tag=rn ]

Penn State provost warns students that they could go to prison for
illegal file sharing (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 04/02/2003)
[ http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003040201t.htm ]

RIAA sues campus file-swappers (news.com, 04/03/2003)
[ http://news.com.com/2100-1027-995429.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed ]

Recording industry sues 4 students for allegedly trading songs within
college networks (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 04/04/2003)
[ http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003040401t.htm ]