Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Distributing copyrighted materials without the consent of the owner is against federal law.
While it is common to use a variety of free software to do peer-to-peer file sharing (such as Ares, Limeware, BitTorrent, Gnutella) the use of such programs to share copyrighted material violates Federal Law.
Washburn University has adopted the following DMCA violation practice:
1) Documentation and Education of students about DMCA.
2) If a student is found responsible of a second DMCA violation, internet service will be discontinued.
Although it is a student's responsibility to be aware of all University and housing polices, the Dean of Students and designee will consider the first offense as an opportunity to educate Students on this specific policy. There is also potential that Students are not aware that they have installed software that is sharing copyrighted material, and therefore; education on file sharing could be necessary.
On a second offense, the Associate Vice President of Student Life or designee will conduct another formal hearing with the student about this continued misconduct. If found responsible, internet service will be discontinued and other sanctions could be imposed.
All residents and their guest are expected to comply with all University rules and regulations concerning conduct of students in the residence halls and at the University which are now in effect or which may be adopted by the University during the term of a student's residential contract.
