Avoid a file-sharing fiasco
What you need to know NOW
By Hannah Groah, Campus Life Senior Writer
April 26, 2007 | 11 p.m.
Ohio University will soon enforce a new policy regarding peer-to-peer, or P2P, file sharing and that may mean more than you think.
OU’s recent notoriety as the higher education institution with the highest number of illegal downloads has created quite a stir (along with some bad press). OU’s reactions may be confusing to students, but Dr. Shawn Ostermann, Chair of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, along with several IT representatives used an information session on Thursday to help clarify.
What exactly is the new policy?
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday, April 27, the university will begin patrolling its network for any P2P activity. If any activity is detected Internet access to the room will be turned off, and it will be up to the student to call the IT service desk (740-593-1222) to settle the matter. According to the OU Web site, the student will have to agree to the terms of usage in order to have the Internet returned.
When does the new policy go into effect?
A minute after midnight tonight. The first minute of the weekend. Early early morning on Friday the 27th of April. Whichever way you say it, as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday morning OU said it will begin “monitoring its network for P2P file sharing activity and disabling Internet access for computers found in violation of the new policy.”
What has to go?
Any and all downloads will be reported to the university, whether or not they’re proven legal or illegal. According to the university, “P2P file-sharing can sometimes be used for legitimate reasons, any use of P2P software on the campus network may result in Internet access being disabled under this new policy.”
File sharing programs like Ares, Azureus, BitTorrent, BitLord, KaZaA, LimeWire, Shareaza and uTorrent will all be monitored by IT services, and encryptions will not prevent the software from detecting P2P sharing.
Why is the university doing this now?
The recent surge of RIAA letters to OU has certainly left a damper on Athens’ campus, but officials are shirking away from putting all the blame on the recording industry. Instead, Ostermann is quick to blame the strict policy on time and budget constraints.
“The university simply cannot afford it anymore,” Ostermann said about the burden that excessive downloading places on bandwidth. He said that the strain placed on OU’s bandwidth from P2P file sharing could possibly be putting a strain on other more academic uses of the Internet.
However, Ostermann also said the most profound reason for OU’s policy switch is the time. Time is money, and OU, according to the official statement of the university, has spent nearly 120 hours trying to clean up the pre-litigation letters from the RIAA.
Workers from all around OU have had to deal with the problem of downloading in some way or another, including workers from judiciaries, legal affairs, student affairs, the security team, the help desk and the people who wire the rooms. Ostermann estimates that the work is enough to keep three full time employees busy for a week or two. “We just can’t sustain this; it’s too much work,” he said.
What can happen to me?
If Internet access is turned off to your room the first move to make is calling the IT Service desk at 740-593-1222. They will direct you to a Web site (ironically enough you will not be able to access that Web site from your own room since, oh yeah, your internet has been turned off). From this Web site you will have to agree to the terms of usage provided by the university and possibly rid your computer of any illegally obtained material. Then your Internet access will be turned back on “with a stern warning,” said Ostermann.
That’s all. Not at all painful, just don’t get caught a second time. A second notice from the university will send students straight to judiciaries and faculty members to administrators. While no one ever likes to make the trip to judiciaries, it could be worse. You could be settling out of court with the RIAA.
Other helpful hints
If you share a room with someone who likes to download music, movies or any other fun bit of downloadable entertainment, then expect to have your Internet turned off. According to Ostermann the university does not have the correct (expensive) equipment to turn off access to just one computer. If one person downloads all Internet access will be restricted to the entire room, and roommates will have to discuss among themselves who will take the blame.
Ostermann said they are unsure whether past strikes against students will mean a straight ticket to judiciaries for those found to be in violation of the new policy. “You can make the argument go both ways,” Ostermann said of the vagueness. He said that the IT services hopes to work with Student Affairs to create a fair policy.
While Ostermann said legal downloading is rare and makes up a very small number of the downloads on campus, he said he recognizes that some students are in legal realms of usage. These students can contact IT services and discuss their situation before Internet is turned off for their room. However, these people will be given a “no strike” policy.