original publish date: November 15, 2006
updated on: April 27, 2007
Nichole Homstad
Make no mistake. The recording industries are listening. Contrary to popular belief, UNH has been host to a vast number of complaints from various recording companies. UNH students have managed to avoid any public brawls with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) involving great sums of money. And though you may not be aware of students being brought to court to defend DMCA violations, UNH is contacted by companies such as Sony, Paramount and DreamWorks on a daily basis.
Some residents are under the assumption that programs such as DC++, Limewire and Ares are OK to use since no one is getting caught. It is important for residents to realize that people are indeed being caught and that the University does not support the use of such software.
For those who are unaware of the process, here is how it works:
John Doe, a resident at UNH, has Limewire installed on his computer. He downloads and shares a recent blockbuster movie or chart-topping single. While he is sharing the music, movie, videogame or other copyrighted material, the company that owns the material is searching for anyone who is sharing the file. As soon as the company detects that John Doe is freely sharing their legally protected material they take down his IP address. The IP address shows that John Doe is sharing the file from a UNH residence hall. As the internet service provider for residents, UNH is the contact for the RIAA. UNH gets the official message from the RIAA and companies that own copyrighted works saying that John Doe is sharing a specific file.
When UNH Network Security receives notification of the infringement a letter is sent to John Doe’s UNH email describing the problem, instructing him to contact the CIS Help Desk (603-862-4242) and offering him several places for further information about DMCA violations. From the time the email is sent, John has three days (weekends included) to contact the Help Desk. John and the Help Desk will discuss what actions he needs to take in order to comply. If John fails to contact the Help Desk or comply with their requests his network privileges will be suspended. This means, until he follows the Help Desk directions, John will not be able to use the UNH Network for internet access.
In addition, many residents believe that DC++ is in some way affiliated with the University of New Hampshire. It should be understood that UNH in no way supports, runs or condones any DC++ activity. DC++ is an “underground” student-run filesharing program.
For more information on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act please visit:
http://www.unh.edu/cis/dmca/
http://www.unh.edu/cis/docs/dmcanotice.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA
