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Arrgghhh…NO PIRATES!!!

Illegal Music Downloading and File Sharing

The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade association of recording companies holding music and video copyrights, is aggressively suing students who share music and video peer-to-peer (P2P) programs. This year, hundreds of students at The University of Texas at Austin who use LimeWire, KaZaA, Blubster, Grokster, BitTorrent, Gnutella, iMesh, CuteMX, Scour, FreeNetfile, or any other file-sharing program have been targeted. While file-sharing software itself may be lawful, illegal downloading or sharing of even legally purchased songs is a violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act as the music/videos are under a copyright, which can only be waived in writing by the owner. Actual knowledge or intent that one is performing an illegal act is not necessary to create liability.

In the first of two potential scenarios, the RIAA will notify UT Austin that an alleged copyright infringement has occurred on the campus network and a student will receive an e-mail warning about the violation from Information Technology Services (ITS), which maintains the university’s computer networks. Alternatively, the RIAA may forward a pre-lawsuit settlement notice through ITS. This e-mail will inform the student of the violation and offer an opportunity to settle before being sued in Federal Court.

In addition to the risk of a costly civil lawsuit, students who download or distribute copyrighted materials are in violation of the university regulations. Student Judicial Services (SJS) may discipline a student in a variety of ways that may include termination of her or his campus computer connection privileges. To be protected from RIAA or university action, students should ensure that access to their computer is password protected, which will prevent others from causing harm. For comprehensive information, refer to page 15 of the 2008 Legal Services for Students Student Handbook or visit the Legal Services for Students Web page at www.utexas.edu/student/lss/.