But, will still cut off campus internet network access after first file-sharing violation.In an interesting approach to the whole RIAA campus piracy crackdown quagmire, the University of Kansas has decided upon a zero-tolerance policy for those engage of illegal file-sharing on campus but, will not go so far as to give up their identities to the RIAA. Effective this fall, KU will begin instituting a zero-tolerance policy for illegal file-sharing and will deactivate ResNet Network access for any students in university housing if KU receives notice of a copyright violation and their subsequent appeal of the finding is denied. Students would however, still be able to access computers in campus labs and also continue using their KU e-mail addresses making the punishment fair and equitable for both students and the university. Students were previously afforded a three strikes policy, whereby the university would simply make the user remove the infringing material and watch a tutorial in addition to receive a written reprimand. But KU has received an increasing number of complaints from the RIAA, with a mere 141 such notices in all of 2005, and a staggering 345 so far this year alone. “It’s serious business. Students need to take notice,” KU spokesman Todd Cohen said. “That’s why we are trying to educate them and their parents. It’s not a matter of thinking that nothing will happen to you.” In a rare bit of enlightenment however, KU is refusing to pass on the pre-litigation settlement letters from the RIAA to students on the grounds that doing so could be an invasion of the students privacy since the RIAA has no legal standing by which to serve the notices in the first place. KU will notify individual students by mail if it received a copyright infringement complaint connected to their IP address. Yet, it will not forward students the RIAA pre-litigation settlement letter. Jenny Mehmedovic, coordinator for information and technology policy and planning, said under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the University has no obligation to forward the letters to students. It also will not release any identifying information without a court order or subpoena. Mehmedovic said the University operates by an internal process of response when it receives a complaint. It sends the appropriate user a letter from the University notifying them of the problem. According to the safe harbor provision of the DMCA, ISPs like KU, are not to be held liable for customers’ online activity if they immediately remove or disable a user’s access to identified material in a copyright infringement complaint. Todd Cohen, director of University Relations, said the first responsibility of the University is to protect the privacy of its network users and notify users of the problem and the rules. “My understanding is that the University’s best practices view point is to protect its students and show compliance to the rules but not to act as a legal agent,” Cohen said. Now if only other universities and college campuses would take notice and follow KU's lead and simply throtlle back a students network access rather than turning them in to authorities and becoming a puppet for corporate america instead of a safe haven for learning and free thought. Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
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