Information Technology Services - SUNY
Cobleskill
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Knowledge Base: last modified: 5 November 2003
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
file-sharing is the automated sharing of computer files on a network among two
or more computers. In P2P file-sharing each
participating computer can both send and receive files as part of the
file-sharing process; each computer is a “peer” in the file-sharing activities. A software program, which generally runs
unattended on each peer computer, is used to automate the file-sharing process. Examples of such software include Blubster, KaZaA, iMesh, Morpheus, Gnutella, and Limewire.
The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998, is an extensive reform of
copyright laws, taking into account the Internet and the new Digital Age.
Its intention is to cover the legality of distributing material online,
determine the responsibility and liability of everyone involved, including
users and service providers, and define procedures for enforcing its policies.
Sharing
copyrighted material online is a violation of the DMCA, therefore such sharing
is an illegal activity.
Purchasing movies and music is like purchasing a license to use that work. That
is, if you buy a CD, you are buying the right to listen to that CD, but not the
rights to the actual music on it, which includes sale and distribution. Those
rights are held by the copyright owner. Any sale or distribution by anyone
other than the copyright owner is a felony crime.
Therefore, distributing copyrighted material online using file-sharing software
is a violation of copyright law, unless you hold the copyright to the works you
are distributing. Also, if you obtain
copyright-protected material online without the permission of the copyright
holder, you are committing an act of theft that is tantamount to shoplifting.
SUNY Cobleskill residence network
users are prohibited from using file-sharing software to distribute or obtain copyrighted
material. There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost, it is
a violation of the aforementioned copyright laws. Secondly, it uses up valuable
network bandwidth that students are entitled to. When
someone who lives off-campus downloads an MP3 or movie off of your computer,
they must first enter Cobleskill’s residence network through the campus’s
Internet connection before they can get the file from your computer. Our Internet connection has a limited capacity
for traffic, and bringing off-campus users through it only slows it down for our
students. Similarly, P2P file-sharing
among computers on campus will degrade on-campus network performance.