Spring Break
Despite RIAA, LTS maintains policy
by Anya Bergman
News | 9/4/07
Posted online at 2:10 AM EST on 9/4/07
Despite requests by the Recording Industry Association of America to universities to monitor their networks more closely, Library and Technology Services officials said they have no intention of complying.
For several years the RIAA has targeted file-sharing activity on college networks, but only recently has the organization sent "pre-litigation" letters to students, accusing them of illegally sharing copyrighted material online and ordering them to pay a sum, or else face a lawsuit.
LTS received and passed on 15 such letters to Brandeis students last May. Thirteen settled outside of court, paying the RIAA about $3,000 each, but two are currently facing charges in federal district court, LTS officials said.
Chief Information Security Officer Dennis Devlin said that while the RIAA would like universities to play a bigger role in policing their networks, it's not LTS' role to monitor network "content," but simply to oversee traffic on the network, or general user activity.
"We don't look at the traffic that's actually going back and forth, we don't examine what's in there, we're really just looking at the volume of traffic, and the type of traffic that it is," Devlin said.
LTS officials only view network content when scanning for viruses.
"We are not looking at it for the purpose of determining what sort of thing it is, other than just to say whether it is malicious or not," Elliot Kendall, the systems administrator in the Office for Information Technology Services, said.
To look at network performance, to make sure that we have adequate capacity to serve the needs of the students, the faculty, staff and administration, and then to identify where there are problems, whether the computer is infected with a virus or a worm," he said, are the only concerns LTS has with network activity.
If a network member is using too much bandwidth, LTS sends the individual a warning. If the individual continues to use too much or violate other network rules, the user is kicked off the network.
For several years the RIAA has targeted file-sharing activity on college networks, but only recently has the organization sent "pre-litigation" letters to students, accusing them of illegally sharing copyrighted material online and ordering them to pay a sum, or else face a lawsuit.
LTS received and passed on 15 such letters to Brandeis students last May. Thirteen settled outside of court, paying the RIAA about $3,000 each, but two are currently facing charges in federal district court, LTS officials said.
Chief Information Security Officer Dennis Devlin said that while the RIAA would like universities to play a bigger role in policing their networks, it's not LTS' role to monitor network "content," but simply to oversee traffic on the network, or general user activity.
"We don't look at the traffic that's actually going back and forth, we don't examine what's in there, we're really just looking at the volume of traffic, and the type of traffic that it is," Devlin said.
LTS officials only view network content when scanning for viruses.
"We are not looking at it for the purpose of determining what sort of thing it is, other than just to say whether it is malicious or not," Elliot Kendall, the systems administrator in the Office for Information Technology Services, said.
To look at network performance, to make sure that we have adequate capacity to serve the needs of the students, the faculty, staff and administration, and then to identify where there are problems, whether the computer is infected with a virus or a worm," he said, are the only concerns LTS has with network activity.
If a network member is using too much bandwidth, LTS sends the individual a warning. If the individual continues to use too much or violate other network rules, the user is kicked off the network.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Michael Schakow '01, MA '01
posted 9/04/07 @ 4:04 AM EST
Mr. Devlin strikes exactly the right tone. I salute the University, LTS and Mr. Devlin for walking the fine line between intruding into students' network content and promoting copyright infringement. (Continued…)
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