Summary

The purpose of this policy isto define William Woods University’s position on the sharing, distributing, or using illegal or unauthorized copies of software, music, video, and all other forms of piracy; digital or non-digital. The individual with primary responsibility is the Network Administrator and the back-up designee.

Guidelines

Providing or obtaining unauthorized copies of audio and visual works in either digital or non-digital format is not appropriate and may be illegal.

Any number of file-sharing applications, Kazaa or Morpheus for example, enables you to locate and download music, movies and video in digital format. Use of this type of software raises important issues regarding copyright law, network traffic and security.

Copyright Law

Copyright laws were enacted to protect the original expression of an idea, whether it is expressed in the form of music, art or written material. A number of rights are given copyright owners by Federal law. These rights include the right to control the reproduction, distribution and adaptation of their work, as well as the public performance or display of their work. Many states have laws that support the federal laws and often go further to address piracy.

WilliamWoods University takes a strong stand against unlawful distribution of copyrighted music, movies and software. If a student is found to be distributing copyrighted material using any university computing resources, that person’s network connection will be terminated and the student will be referred to the Office of Community Life. If the user* provides or obtains copyrighted files (music, videos, text, etc.) without permission from the copyright owner or their representative, the user* is in violation of federal and state copyright laws and the William Woods University Acceptable Use Policy.

By using programs such as Kazaa or Morpheus, file serving networks, or direct-connects that allow you to copy music or film to his/her computer, he/she may also be permitting the computer to become a "server" from which others can download the same file. Running a server from a university building is a violation of the William Woods University Network Use Policy.

Network Service

Transferring large movie or music files may overload the network and degrade services. Transferring large files can slow the network making it less responsive or even unavailable to users*. Excessive network traffic can be generated, adversely affecting performance for other users*. William Woods University routinely monitors network usage patterns. Interfering with the ability of others to use the network services violates University policy and may result in termination of access to the university network services, and other disciplinary action.

*User is defined as all faculty, staff and students.