Sharing Music Files

RIAA FAQ's

1. What is the RIAA?
2. How does the RIAA notify the SJU community that there is someone in violation on the university campus network?
3. Does a student have to post the MP3 or can they be in violation by downloading these files also?
4. Is the RIAA leaving it up to SJU to discipline the students or can a student be facing a lawsuit as well?
5. What kind of punishment can a student be facing in ordinance with the SJU Computer Usage Policy?
6. What is the procedure that occurs before diciplinary action is taken?
7. Is the RIAA threatening action against the university itself if they do not fix the problem?
8. Is this an issue that the university is going to pursue aggressivley or will only frequent offenders be notified that they are in violation?

The RIAA (Recording Industry Assocation of America) is a trade association whose member companies create, manufacture, and distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States. Under penalty of perjury, we submit that the RIAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member companies in matters involving the infringement of their sound recordings, including enforcing their copyrights and common law rights on the Internet.

2. How does the RIAA notify the SJU community that there is someone in violation on the university campus network?

The RIAA contacts us via e-mail. They provide us with a network address (IP address) of the computer system in question, and a list of the copyrighted music titles that are being illegally shared. They have been doing this over the past 18 months. Recently, the number of warnings have increased substantially. The email is signed by the "Anti-piracy" unit of the RIAA.

3. Does a student have to post the MP3 or can they be in violation by downloading these files also?

They are looking at systems that are serving files, not downloading them. That being said, it should be noted that with some of these file sharing services, a computer becomes a server just by downloading and
installing the client software. We are working on documentation that will describe how one can keep one's computer from inadvertently becoming a server.

4. Is the RIAA leaving it up to SJU to discipline the students or can a student be facing a lawsuit as well?

At this time, they are warning the university that the university may be liable for damages under the terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

5. What kind of punishment can a student be facing in ordinance with the SJU Computer Usage Policy?

When a violation is reported to us, we immediately attempt to find out who the student is so that one of our staff can contact them. If we make contact, we explain the situation, verify that the RIAA report is accurate, and then ask the students to remove the music and the software that shares it from their computer. If the student agrees to do this, there is no further action.

If we cannot reach the student immediately, we a) attempt to leave a message and b) inactivate thet student's network port. When the student returns our call, we ask that for the removal of the music and the software. When this is complete, we reactivate the network port.

When the number of reported violations jumped significantly, we asked the university's Student Life division for help in trying to curb the problem. The advise we received was to refer repeat offenders to the existing student disciplinary process. We have not had occasion to do this. I would ask that you speak with someone in Student Life in order to obtain information about potential penalties.

Additionally, our "Guidelines for the Use of Computing and "Network Resources at Saint Joseph's University" include the below points. Every member of the university community agrees to the policy
electronically once per year. This is done when one connects to the university's information portal to conduct business electronically with SJU.

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Penalties for Misuse of Computing and Information Resource Privileges

Abuse of computing resources is subject to disciplinary action. If the Office of Information Technology has a sufficiency of evidence to indicate that intentional or malicious misuse of computing resources has occurred, and if that evidence points to the computing activities or the computer files of an individual, any or all of the following steps will be pursued to protect the user community:

1. Notify the user's project director, instructor, academic advisor, or administrative officer of the investigation.

2. Refer the matter for processing through the University's judicial system.

3 . Suspend or restrict the user's computing privileges during the investigation, including inspecting that user's files, diskettes, and/or tapes. Disciplinary action may include the loss of computing privileges and other disciplinary sanctions up to and including non-reappointment, discharge, dismissal, and legal action. In some cases, an abuser of the University's computing resources may also be liable for civil or criminal prosecution under Title 18 PA C.S. @5742 (1990), or other appropriate legislation.

It should be understood that nothing in these guidelines precludes enforcement under the laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, any municipality or county therein, and/or the United States of America.

6. What is the procedure that occurs before diciplinary action is taken?

We always contact individals personally and attempt to resolve problems privately. This has been extremely successful to date; however, the number of individuals involved is growing rapidly, making it more difficult to contact everyone. This is why we decided to inform people via the information portal, so as to alert as many as possible as quickly as possible.

7. Is the RIAA threatening action against the university itself if they do not fix the problem?

At this time, they are warning the university that the university may be liable for damages under the terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

8. Is this an issue that the university is going to pursue aggressivley or will only frequent offenders be notified that they are in violation?

We have always taken violations of federal copyright law seriously. We will continue to work to ensure that university resources are not used for illegal activity. As we receive warnings about individual systems, we will continue to contact the owners of these systems and attempt to reach a resolution.