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Office of Information Technology

UA Plan for Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) Compliance

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 Office of Information Technology also sends a letter to students annually informing them about respecting copyright. You can view a web version of the letter below.

HEOA Letter to Students

Respect Copyrights

Students,

It is important for you to be aware of the laws and policies concerning the use of copyrighted material, especially digital material – music, movies, software, etc. As part of our commitment to raise awareness on these and other issues concerning your online safety and as required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, we want to remind you of a few things.

All users of the network, including the Internet, at The University of Alabama are required to abide by and comply with all state and federal laws governing copyrights and trademarks as well as other applicable state and federal laws and applicable University policies. The use of copyrighted material may require the permission of the copyright owner. The absence of a copyright notice or symbol on a work does not denote a lack of copyright. Copyrighted works can include, but are not limited to, text, graphics, music, and photographs. In addition, you are required to obtain written permission before you are allowed to use any University of Alabama copyrighted materials, trademarks, or logos for commercial or any other unofficial University purpose.

Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file-sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement.

Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may incur either actual damages or “statutory” damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For “willful” infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can include other costs and attorneys’ fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the Web site of the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov, especially their FAQ at http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq.

In addition, we would like to remind you that The University of Alabama’s policy expressly forbids the sharing or serving of copyrighted material without the proper consent of the author. Failure to comply with this policy may result in restriction or loss of University network access and/or disciplinary action through the Office of Student Conduct.

Should you infringe on a copyright while using a University network, the University will be notified with the specific information regarding the work infringed and enough information to identify you specifically on the network.

So you will be aware of the process, this is what will happen upon receiving a notice of alleged copyright infringement:

  1. A Service Desk Ticket is created to track this incident and you will be notified of the infraction, the infringed work and your next actions.
  2. Access to the University’s network is suspended. The Office of Student Conduct is notified.
  3. If this is your first infraction, you are required to cease the file sharing and provide a description of what was done to prevent such an infraction in the future, before your network access is restored.
  4. If this is not your first infraction, you are required to bring your computer to the OIT Service Desk (125 Gordon Palmer Hall). The Service Desk must certify that the file sharing application and the infringed work have been removed before network access is restored. There is a charge of $70 for the scanning and removal of viruses, file sharing programs, and infringed materials.
  5. The Office of Student Conduct may contact you regarding this infringement as a Code of Student Conduct violation.
  6. After your computer has ceased the sharing of copyrighted works, we can restore your network access.

You have many alternatives to illegal file sharing and downloading in order to avoid civil, criminal, and policy entanglements. One of the best sources for a list of legally downloadable online content is http://www.educause.edu/legalcontent.

For more information, visit https://www.ua.edu/copyright/.

Thanks,

The Office of Information Technology

The University of Alabama

Purpose

In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) which was signed into law on 14 August 2008 and which went into effect on 1 July 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.

Scope

This document applies to all users, faculty, staff, students, and visitors, of the University of Alabama networks, wired and wireless.

Requirements

HEOA, in a large part, deals with the means of effectively combating the unauthorized file sharing of copyrighted materials on campus networks, specifying general requirements for all U.S. colleges and universities to include in their written plans:

  • An annual disclosure to students describing copyright law and campus policies related to violating copyright law;
  • A plan to “effectively combat” copyright abuse on the campus network using “one or more technology-based deterrents;”
  • A list of  “alternatives to illegal downloading.”

Annual Disclosure

The University of Alabama’s Office of Information Technology will send an e-mail message to all students, during the fall of each year, to refresh their memories on copyright laws and campus policies, as part of the compliance office’s annual reporting.

Technology Deterrents

The University of Alabama has implemented several technology-based deterrents to help combat illegal file sharing (distribution) of copyrighted materials.

  1. The University operates and maintains bandwidth packet shapers which can limit the throughput of popular file sharing programs.
  2. The University has a registered DMCA agent that receives and actively responds to all DMCA complaints.
  3. The University employs intrusion detection and prevention systems to detect and block certain file sharing applications and malware seeking to take control of or steal sensitive information from University owned computers.

Alternatives to Illegal Downloading

As part of the Annual Disclosure in the “Annual Disclosure” section, each student will be sent a link to the Educause list of legal and legitimate sites for content downloading – http://www.educause.edu/legalcontent.

Revisions

  • July 2010 – Initial document
  • August 2010 – 0.8 Inclusion of draft Letter to the Students
  • August 2010 – 0.9 Inclusion of Copyright Infraction Response Procedure
  • September 2010 – 1.0 Approval of the HEOA Compliance plan
  • October 2010 – Publishing of the Plan on the Office of Information Technology’s Web site
  • September 2013 – 1.1 Change of office name from “Office of Student Judicial Affairs” to “Office of Student Conduct”

Appendix of Process

Text-Only Version

  • First infraction?
    • YES:
      • Service DeskTicket Created (auto-close after 60 days)
        • Ticket updated (including original DMCA complaint) [to student] [cc: Office of Student Conduct]
        • Network access block imposed
        • Student responds with details explaining how they will avoid future infractions
      • Ticket ready to close?
        • Ticket older than 60 days?
          • YES
            • Restore Network Access
            • Close ticket.
          • NO
            • Keep ticket open until older than 60 days.
    • NO: move to second infraction
  • Second infraction?
    • YES:
      • Service DeskTicket Created (auto-close after 60 days)
        • Ticket updated (including original DMCA complaint) [to student] [cc: Office of Student Conduct]
        • Require Scan/Certification clean of viruses/file sharing by the OIT Service Desk (charge $70)
        • Network access block imposed
        • Office of Student Conduct issues summons letter for Code of Student Conduct Violation
          • Educational Report of Class
      • Ticket ready to close?
        • Ticket older than 60 days?
          • YES
            • Restore Network Access
            • Close ticket.
          • NO
            • Keep ticket open until older than 60 days.
        • NO: move to third infraction
  • Third infraction (or more)
    • YES:
      • Service DeskTicket Created (auto-close after 60 days)
        • Ticket updated (including original DMCA complaint) [to student] [cc: Office of Student Conduct]
        • Require Scan/Certification clean of viruses/file sharing by the OIT Service Desk (charge $70)
        • Network access block imposed
        • Office of Student ConductStudent issues summons letter for Code of Student Conduct Violation
          • Educational Report of Class
      • Network Denial (Access Limitation) at the discretion of the Office of Student Conduct
      • Close Ticket