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Dartmouth College is devoted to creating, discovering, and sharing knowledge
and information. Dartmouth is also committed to taking reasonable steps to
avoid misuse of its computer network, including use of the computer network to
violate the Copyright Law of the United States. All students, faculty, and
staff should have a basic understanding of the Copyright Law. To assist the
College community in the proper use of the campus computer network, a Copyright Primer and Information Technology
Policy have been posted on the College Web site.
Campus computer networks are often used to reproduce and distribute
copyrighted music, movies, television shows, pictures, and software
through the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. P2P file sharing
applications allow a computer to connect to a P2P network, and once connected,
make it possible to download and share files with other users on the network.
P2P networking has been around for many years, but file sharing applications
such as LimeWire, KaZaA and BitTorrent have made it easy to trade files with
people around the world. Beginning in April 2003 when members of the Recording
Industry Association of America filed civil suits against students at Michigan
Tech, Princeton University, and Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute seeking
substantial damages for copyright infringement, there has been an increasing
level of attention to violators of copyright laws. (Those cases were quickly
settled, with each of the student defendants agreeing to pay more than $12,000
in damages.) Since then, there has been increasing pressure on
universities to take action against copyright violations, especially those
attributable to P2P. When Dartmouth College receives a complaint from a
copyright holder, we notify the individual involved and pass along any
information received from the copyright holder to that individual. We do not
supply any information to the copyright holder about the individual involved
unless a valid subpoena is presented.
This site answers some frequently asked questions about the application of
the Copyright Law to peer-to-peer file sharing.
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