The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and sharing of copyrighted material

The 1998 enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) represents the most comprehensive reform of United States copyright law in a generation. The DMCA seeks to update U.S. copyright law for the digital age. If music, movies, TV shows, games, or any copyrighted material is downloaded without permission from the copyright holder, the law is being broken. Also, sharing those files, even accidentally, is still illegally distributing copyrighted material.

If copyrighted material is shared, your ResNet connection may be terminated, the Office of Student Judicial Affairs may be contacted, and you may be subject to legal proceedings relating to the violation of the copyright holder’s rights.

The best way to avoid legal action is by not installing file sharing programs such as Ares, KaZaA, Bearshare, Limewire, Frostwire, uTorrent, BitTorrent or Vuze. Purchasing the “Pro” version does not grant any right to download or share copyrighted material. If a legitimate use for one of these programs exists, you should ensure that file sharing is DISABLED, so that you are not accidentally committing piracy.

For instructions on how to disable file sharing in most peer-to-peer applications, follow this link.

Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA)

In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), which was signed into law on August 14, 2008 and which went into effect on July 1, 2010, The University of Alabama’s Office of Information Technology has defined procedures and plans needed to comply with the Information Technology portions of the HEOA.

• The Compliance Plan
• Letter Sent to the Students