U.S. government has increased regulations for campuses, UP's system acceptable
By Jonathan Hiser
The U.S. Department of Education has begun to write new regulations that dictate how U.S. academic institutions are required to handle student piracy. Universities are now awaiting word to see whether their current policies will be up to par with the new standards. UP's Information Services officers, however, aren't concerned.
"We're much better prepared than most universities," said Jim Ravelli, Chief Information Officer.
Unlike some universities, UP already deploys an anti-piracy measure in the form of a network appliance called CopySense. Implemented in December 2006, CopySense prevents faculty and students from either downloading or uploading copyrighted material on campus.
Whenever software is downloaded or uploaded over the campus network, CopySense scans the packets and cross-checks it to a continually updated list of known copyrighted software.
Described as an escalated response, the system operates on a three-strikes policy. Following the downloading of illegal material, a student will receive an official warning alerting them of their action and then remove their Internet access for one hour. A second violation will result in a 24-hour ban from the Internet.
"The first two are warnings, and we've rarely had to deal with that," Ravelli said.
After the third attempt, CopySense suspends the student's Internet access until he or she meets with Ravelli, at which point they must agree to no longer engage in software piracy. Any further violation will result in a judicial review. Ravelli said a third strike is very rarely given
Since the implementation of CopySense, Ravelli said UP has not received legal notices from any companies regarding copyright infringement. Prior to the installation of CopySense, UP tended to receive, on average, two or three notices a month from companies, according to Networking Systems Administrator Sean Hennessey.
Despite the deterrent, Hennessey said no system detects all illegal downloading and that the software does not extent to off-campus student Internet activity.
"Nothing is perfect, but it does build up good will with companies and organizations like the RIAA," Hennessey said. UP ensures that those organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America know the University is doing the best it can with its available resources. If students manage to skirt detection by CopySense, there's no guarantee they won't still get caught, Hennessey said. Although rare, the RIAA has sent letters to UP to notifying when it detects illegal software downloading originating from somewhere on campus.
"They can't identify the student with the information they have, but we can," Hennessey said.
Hennessey said UP tries to work with these students to inform them of the danger of their actions, but adds that no such system is in place for students who share software off campus.
"I don't lose sleep over the fact that students are downloading copyrighted software, but I do get worried about what'll happen if someone other than us catches them."
Despite the restrictions, Hennessey said tracking down illegal downloading is neither a large part of his work, or his favorite activity, noting he prefers to protect students online, not bust them.
