Various pieces of software floating around on the Internet and elsewhere enable users to illegally download unlicensed music, videos, or software for free, and to share those files with others who would also like free access to these materials. Not everyone agrees that this practice ought to be illegal, but nobody can deny that it is. Trade organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are aggressively opposing free file-sharing. The RIAA is filing suits against college and university students who have copyrighted materials available for file-sharing on their computers.
The RIAA and other trade groups regularly notify University of North Georgia of the presence of unlicensed materials in file-sharing programs on machines hooked to our network. Under the law, University of North Georgia could face liability if it fails to disable the account and notify the account holder why this has happened. To prevent this, we move quickly to fulfill our legal duties and prevent further distribution of unlicensed files over our network.
A lot of University of North Georgia students have been getting these notices from the Office of General Counsel. Because having illegal file-sharing software and content on a computer hooked to our network is a violation of University of North Georgia’s computer use policy, the names of students about whom we receive these notices are turned over to Judicial Affairs.
The Office of General Counsel moves quickly to protect the University from liability in these situations. Students should work with Information Technology Services to restore their online accounts.
The Office of General Counsel exists for the purpose of serving the legal needs of the University, and cannot offer students legal advice in these matters. A few words of general information might be in order, however:
The RIAA and the other industry groups do sometimes sue students. Just because you get a notice from the Office of General Counsel doesn’t mean you are being sued. The Office of General Counsel does not know whether you are being sued or not. If you require legal advice, you will need to contact your own attorney.
Not all downloaded music, videos, and software is illegal. For example, providers such as iTunes, Napster, and Ruckus provide legal licensed product. Realize, however, that just because you are rightfully in possession of a music file does not give you the right to distribute it to others via file-sharing software.
The RIAA and other industry groups have technological means to sniff out the presence of file-sharing software loaded with unlicensed content. Please don’t think that illegal file-sharing won’t be noticed — the RIAA catches infringers every day.
More information about file-sharing is available online through the RIAA and the United States Copyright Office.