Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard

A University department that is approved to sell goods or services may choose to accept credit cards from its customers as a payment.  Before doing so, you must first comply with all Revenue Generating Policies and all Credit Card requirements as documented by Student Services.

View Revenue Generating Policies


The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

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 Conduct may be contacted, and you may be subject to legal proceedings relating to the violation of the copyright holder’s rights.

What happens when the University gets notified of copyright infringement?

  • Notices of individual accounts allegedly sharing music must be investigated. Generally, the account information is identified and access to the network is blocked until the individual has indicated that any possible sharing of music has been disabled.
  • When preservation notices are received by the University, individuals’ accounts are identified and account holders are notified that data is being retained at the request of a legal representative associated with an alleged copyright violation.
  • When pre-litigation notices are sent to the University by a legal representative associated with a copyright violation, individuals’ accounts are identified and account holders are notified of the pre-litigation information. Generally, the individual has 20 days to reply back to the legal representative and settle out of court.

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.

HEOA Compliance Plan

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.