2008 Woodie Awards
LIS: 24 complaints on piracy so far this year
Ted Nesi
Issue date: 11/1/06 Section: News
The college has received 24 complaints so far this semester of students illegally sharing audio and video files, Director of Administrative Information Systems Tom McAuley said last week.
Last year Wheaton received a total of 44 complaints, far below the 104 complaints received during the 2004-5 school year.
"Essentially, if you choose to use file sharing software and the files you download are shared to the Internet, you may be identified and possibly sued. The college cannot protect you," McAuley warned.
"If there is a complaint, Wheaton must locate you and request that you stop the file sharing or block your access from the Internet. If you are subpoenaed, we must identify you."
The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) and movie producers have been aggressively targeting students who share files online for the past few years.
As a tax exempt, educational institution that supports a network connected to the Internet and uses copyrighted electronic and print material for teaching, the school is obligated to respond to any complaint regarding copyright infringement that it receives.
The school receives such complaints, which include the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user, by e-mail, and then must locate the offender.
McCauley said he hoped students would instead use RUCKUS, the free music downloading service that is provided to students by OSHEAN, Wheaton's Internet Service Provider.
RUCKUS is not current available for Apple computers, however.
The full text of Wheaton's file-sharing policy is available online at wheatonma.edu/it_s/guides/sharing.html.
Last year Wheaton received a total of 44 complaints, far below the 104 complaints received during the 2004-5 school year.
"Essentially, if you choose to use file sharing software and the files you download are shared to the Internet, you may be identified and possibly sued. The college cannot protect you," McAuley warned.
"If there is a complaint, Wheaton must locate you and request that you stop the file sharing or block your access from the Internet. If you are subpoenaed, we must identify you."
The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) and movie producers have been aggressively targeting students who share files online for the past few years.
As a tax exempt, educational institution that supports a network connected to the Internet and uses copyrighted electronic and print material for teaching, the school is obligated to respond to any complaint regarding copyright infringement that it receives.
The school receives such complaints, which include the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user, by e-mail, and then must locate the offender.
McCauley said he hoped students would instead use RUCKUS, the free music downloading service that is provided to students by OSHEAN, Wheaton's Internet Service Provider.
RUCKUS is not current available for Apple computers, however.
The full text of Wheaton's file-sharing policy is available online at wheatonma.edu/it_s/guides/sharing.html.
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