Spring Break
IRT issues warning about file sharing on Drexel network
Anthony Cesarini
Issue date: 2/18/05 Section: Sci-Tech
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While national media outlets have been mainly covering lawsuits that are being filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Movie Picture Association of America (MPAA) most computer users are not aware that scam artists have been attempting to use peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs to obtain personal information from the hard drives of file sharers. By default, some file sharing programs allow remote users to search and download files no matter where they are located on the hard drive. Files in the My Documents or system folders may be accessible to those intending to do harm.
While identity theft may be a new consequence to sharing copyrighted files, lawsuits and federal prosecution are not new and have only been increasing in number. The RIAA recently announced lawsuits against 68 users in 23 of the nation's universities. According to Associate Vice President for IRT Core Technology Ken Blackney, Drexel has seen a ten-fold increase in formal complaints against users of its network by outside organizations such as the RIAA.
IRT now receives over 100 complaints per month. According to Blackney, if Drexel receives communication from an outside source that your computer has been caught sharing copyrighted files, IRT has 24 hours to stop your computer from performing the criminal act. Offenses are also reported to the appropriate University department.
"Contrary to popular belief, Drexel does not go looking for copyright violators," Blackney said when asked if Drexel uses utilities to search for sharers on the network.
To prevent actions from being taken by both Drexel and industry groups, IRT has recommended that all students on the network consider uninstalling P2P applications from their computers.
P2P applications are not the only culprit in the ongoing battle against file sharing. IRT reminds that students caught sharing copyrighted materials via the popular FTP (file transfer protocol) will experience the same punishment as P2P users.
While an IRT Tech Update e-mail sent out on Monday to the campus community mainly focuses on the consequences of sharing files, Blackney reminds that if a student breaks the law downloading files, that is also a violation of University policy. "The Tech Update was designed to make sure that students understand that the tools that they use to download may turn their computers into upload servers and that that makes them a higher profile target for copyright holders looking to protect their property."
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