Penn State has long taken the issue of copyright infringement seriously, and has encouraged its faculty, students and staff to become familiar with both national laws and University policies on the subject. Recently these efforts have intensified under a new campaign sponsored by Information Technology Services (ITS). The campaign, which targets a variety of groups at Penn State, has one basic message: educate yourself concerning copyright laws and software piracy. One of the ways that ITS has been distributing this message is through a unique and entertaining student contest taking place on the Web this semester.
"While the contest has been designed to be fun and to pique student interest" there is nothing funny about copyright crime," says Kathleen Kimball, senior director of ITS Security Operations and Services (SOS). "Penn State has an obligation to respond expeditiously when its networks and computers are reported to be in violation of law or University policy-and using software to download music, videos, and other copyrighted material without the owner's permission is a violation of both of these."
"Many people just don't realize how serious this issue is," adds Russell Vaught, associate vice provost for information technology. "An individual who participates in copyright infringement is subject to civil-and in some cases criminal-penalties. It's really not much different than walking out of a store with a CD in your pocket that you haven't paid for-and can, in extreme cases, have far more severe penalties than simple theft."
Events involving students at other universities have heightened Penn State's commitment to educate the University community about copyright violation. At the University of Oregon, a student was sentenced by a federal judge to two years' probation and limited access to the Internet for illegally distributing copyrighted materials using the campus computer network. The student, charged under the 1997 "No Electronic Theft Act," faced a penalty from three to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. In a similar case, campus police at Oklahoma State University seized a computer from a student who was accused of distributing copyrighted music after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) faxed a complaint to the University network security officer about the large volume of music and movies that were being disseminated via the institution's network.
According to Kimball, the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) are becoming much more aggressive in their pursuit of copyright infringers. Last semester, SOS received several notices from the RIAA regarding the use of the University's network for illegal downloading. "When the University receives these notices, we act quickly," says Kimball. "Our first step is to turn off the alleged offender's ethernet connection. Then the individual is notified and appropriate contacts are made for further investigation and adjudication. When a complaint is received, these actions are required by federal law."
In addition to these efforts, Penn State has been working to raise community awareness about common misconceptions related to infringement-plus shed light on how the associated heavy downloads can overload the University network, making it more difficult for legitimate users to access e-mail and use the Web for educational purposes.
"Knowing the difference between fact and fiction in this issue is essential for our community," observes Vaught. "For example, there are individuals who still believe that videos, music and other Web materials that do not display copyright notices are not protected, but that simply is not true. Most materials on the Web are copyrighted and current law does not require formal notice in order to ensure protection."
In the future, Congress may play a leading role in reshaping the nation's attitudes toward infringement, according to a number of media sources. California Congressman Howard Berman (D-Los Angeles) has been preparing legislation that would allow entertainment companies to obstruct peer-to-peer networks that distribute unauthorized copyrighted works with a variety of invasive electronic techniques. These techniques include software that can block file transfers, redirect users to other sites, and confuse users with fake files. While this law did not pass in the last session, Berman's staff believes it has a good chance of doing so in the next. Go to http://www.house.gov/berman/ to read more about Congressman Berman's proposed legislation.
In the meantime, Penn State offers students, faculty and staff many resources to learn about copyright infringement and software piracy, "but it remains the individual's responsibility to use these sources to gain a full understanding of the specifics," stresses Vaught.
For more information on this subject, go to the University Libraries' MediaTech Copyright and Information site at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/mtss/copyright.html and the Copyright Information site at http://www.psu.edu/copyright.html.
Penn State educators and librarians will also find useful information about the "Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act" (TEACH Act) at http://sos.its.psu.edu/copyright.html. Students and others can also access information on bandwidth and copyright issues on the ResCom site that can be found at http://www.rescom.psu.edu.