Notice to Students about P2P and File Sharing

In 2008 Congress passed, and the President signed the Higher Education Opportunity Act. Several of the Act’s provisions are intended to reduce unauthorized duplication of copyrighted works through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing on campus networks. Ridgewater College is providing you this notice in compliance with that legislation and the Department of Education’s regulations in 34 C.F.R. Part 668 (Subpart D). You are strongly advised to read this notice thoroughly and give it careful consideration. Paper copies of this notice and the information referenced in it are available upon request. Ridgewater College provides a high-speed network and other information technology resources to help you accomplish your educational goals. By using the computers at Ridgewater College, you agree to the MinnState Acceptable Use of Computers and Information Technology Resources policy. Specifically, you agree not to use Ridgewater College resources for unauthorized duplication, use, or distribution of copyrighted materials, including music and video files. Ridgewater College considers unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing of copyrighted music and videos to be an inappropriate use of its network resources.

Moreover, such activity is illegal, Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Despite the new moratorium on lawsuits, the RIAA’s aggressive enforcement campaign continues on other fronts and Ridgewater College urges all students to refrain from copyright infringing behavior. Ridgewater College does not routinely monitor the content of network transmissions except as necessary to identify and repel network attacks, viruses, worms, and other malware. However, many P2P networks are used almost exclusively for illegal file sharing and are also favorite channels for spreading malware due to their popularity and pervasiveness. To mitigate these threats, Ridgewater College employs various methods to block illegitimate P2P network traffic at the perimeter of its network. Note, however, that these methods are not 100% effective and all P2P traffic is not blocked at all times. Students should assume that P2P file-sharing activity on the campus network is visible to the RIAA and other content owners that monitor the Internet for copyright infringement activity.