P2P: Peer to Peer File Sharing
Kazaa, Cheetah, Grokster, Napster and other software and Web sites offer people surfing the web an opportunity to sample and share movies, music and videos for free or for a small fee. These Web sites and their software are often on the bleeding edge of technology and, unfortunately, on dangerous legal frontiers. Many of the songs, games, movies and videos downloaded and shared with others are actually infringing on the copyright of the creators.
The
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMC) was formed by Congress to help
the individuals and industries affected by P2P protect their legal
rights.
That means that downloading illegal materials and sharing it is infringement. These industries are aggressively and diligently targeting individuals and colleges with complaints that could result in lawsuits and hefty fines.
SUNY Cortland must follow the
copyright laws and has put some significant network protections in
place so that some software will not function. In addition, the
Electronic Use Policy guides the policies and procedures in detecting
violations of this kind. If a complaint from the industry is sent to
the college, the College must respond.