|
Volume CXXXIII, Number 9 |
 |
College offers olive branch to file-sharers
JAMES FISHER
ORIENT STAFF
New procedures for addressing allegations of online copyright
infringement on the Bowdoin computer network are relatively lenient in
comparison with similar policies at Bates and Colby.
The policy, distributed via email by the Student Computing Committee
to all students, is the result of more than a week's worth of deliberation
by deans, CIS administrators, and students. The new procedures are meant
to prevent confusion and delay when copyright holders notify the College
that individual computer users are illegally sharing copyrighted material
through Bowdoin's internet connection.
Agents for Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. identified at least seven such
students this semester and invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
of 1998 (DMCA) in emails to network administrators. The students were
making Sony-copyrighted songs-new and popular releases from Incubus and
Michael Jackson-available for download via file sharing programs, including
Aimster and Morpheus.
The first students were identified in early September, and the College
immediately disconnected their ethernet ports; the students were not told
for several days why that had happened. By late October, however, CIS
was leaving Sony-identified users on the network, waiting for the deans
to agree on a step-by-step policy.
The new procedures give students two business days to respond to allegations of copyright infringement under the DMCA. If CIS receives "a response from the student stating that the content in question has been removed" in that time, the matter is closed in technical terms: CIS will not "chill" that student's internet access port.
If CIS does not receive a reply from the student within two business
days, internet access will be turned off indefinitely, but it will be
reactivated as soon as the student responds. CIS will notify the student's
dean of the original allegation and the response, if any.
CIS will not investigate whether the material has actually been removed
from the student's shared folder. The individual student's affirmation
is the only license needed to keep the internet access flowing. In addition,
the student computing help desk, REACH, will help students to alter their
file sharing preferences to avoid or correct a copyright violation. The
policy is indulgent of causal users of file-sharing programs who may not
be aware that their music libraries are open to the world.
Colby College has a DMCA policy similar to Bowdoin's, but not as lenient.
Colby gives students 48 hours to respond to infringement allegations,
but the language adopted by Bowdoin administration allowing "two
business days" is intended to accommodate students who are on athletic
trips or Outing Club ventures for a weekend , for example.
Once network access has been turned off for a Colby student, signed notification
is required that the material has been removed. Under the new Bowdoin
policy, an email to CIS affirming that the infringing material is no longer
accessible is sufficient.
Colby's policy expressly exempts the College from participating in any countersuits students may decide to bring against the copyright holders and strongly discourages such countersuits. Bowdoin's policy does not discuss any potential legal scenarios arising from DMCA notifications. Bowdoin's recent statement also avoids mention of College disciplinary action in cases of file-sharing copyright violations. Colby's policy, in contrast, reaffirms the College's right to take disciplinary action.
Unlike Colby and Bowdoin, Bates College "has not formally registered
according to the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,"
said Bates's Director of Information Services, Gene Weimers. Bates does
not have the same legal obligations under that law to respond to allegations
of copyright infringement.
Nevertheless, Bates's administrators behave in a way similar to those at Colby and Bowdoin when a notification is received. "We notify the user accordingly," Weimers said, "and request and expect that he or she will remove the indicated material. We are currently examining what additional steps we should take."
Weimers said that Bates had received notification of copyright violations
by some rights holders, but did not specify when, or how many. Weimers
noted that "failure to comply [with the DMCA] can result in disciplinary
action on campus, civil proceedings, and/or criminal prosecution."
That kind of language is conspicuously absent from Bowdoin's policy released in October. While the College's long-standing copyright policies do acknowledge that disciplinary and judicial punishments are possible outcomes in copyright cases, the procedures detailed two weeks ago are more reassuring than disquieting; Judicial Board cases do not seem likely in these cases, at least for first-time offenders.