Federal Legislation and Higher Education

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Compliance and Education

Networking 2003

Copyright 2003 Tracy Mitrano

Overview of Federal Legislation

• Tension between privacy/security of acts such as Family Education Rights and Privacy, Health Insurance Portability Accountability and Financial Services Modernization and sharing of information acts such as USA-Patriot and Homeland Security Acts.

DMCA

• IT privacy and security implications– Jonathan Whitehead evoked security

concerns with peer to peer technologies– Sarah Deutsch spoke about privacy concerns

when she addressed the significantly lowered bar for information gathering under the DMCA

– Self-help provisions of the draft Patriot Act, which would have allowed copyright holders to “hack” into systems to stop allegedly infringing traffic, struck in the 11th hour.

What role should higher education play?

• Vast majority of campuses do not:– Monitor their networks for content

• Have policies that prohibit as a practice

– Do not want to monitor their networks for content

• For reasons of academic freedom

– Do not believe that technical controls, for example the blocking of ports:

• Are required for compliance• Are technically feasible for compliance

Compliance and Education

• Compliance should be distinguished from enforcement– For a policy on DMCA, compliance is the

policy statement. Procedures or protocols outline the administrative steps taken to accomplish that goal.

– For example, at Cornell, before the Verizon case, we used to notify user and block if they failed to respond. Automatic referrals to Judicial Administration.

DMCA Compliance at Cornell

• Cornell has changed the procedure to:– Immediate and simultaneous block of Internet

Protocol (IP) address upon receipt of infringement notice and contact to user.

• http://www.cit.cornell.edu/oit/policy/memos/dmca.html

– Form letter• http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/2003_Standard_Notice.doc

– Upon receipt of either cease and desist response or assurance that a security breach has been repaired, immediate re-instatement of IP address.

– Automatic referral to Judicial Administration

Old Whine in New Bottles

• Which procedure, old or new, is legal?– Both are! Difference revolves around an

interpretation of the term “expeditiously” in DMCA.

• Which one is better?– Always a balance, but three reasons why we

changed:• Administrative experience in obtaining the attention of the

user• Copyright/security complications• Verizon case

– Last most important: better to protect identity of users

Nota Bene

• Discipline is not one of the reasons for the change to the new procedure:– IT policy/procedure decision.– Discipline left up to Judicial Administration

• FYI: First time offenders receive $30.00 fine and no disciplinary record. Repeat offenders receive progressive discipline. Three-time repeat (not multiple) offenders will have account closed for semester.

• Contrary to recent newspaper accounts, Cornell’s new network billing operation was not intended for and does not have the purpose of “cracking down on file-sharing.”

Education

• Our philosophy is to couple compliance with education

• Cornell takes a variety of approaches:– Annual Notice with reply function

• Dynamic conversation with entire university community• http://www.cit.cornell.edu/oit/policy/memos/copyright-

fall2002.html– New students must take an on-line tutorial about

information technologies packed with policy and security information.

• If they do not complete after September 15, their network identifier is frozen for usage until they do complete the program.

Education

• University Computer Policy and Law Program– Speaker’s series which includes a number of

speakers on digital copyright, e.g.• Georgia Harper• Margie Hodges-Shaw• Alan Davidson

• Academic Courses– CIS 515: Culture, Law and Politics of the Internet– Considering more: IT as a topic for freshman writing

seminars or even required course in IT for all undergraduates.

• Talks, seminars and discussions: Make every copyright issue an education moment

Why Compliance and Education?

• Two prongs are consistent with our role as institutional citizens of American society and our mission as gadflies and educators

• Maintain our autonomy as distinct institutions– Steer around the pitfalls of either extreme position (on

the one hand, flouting the law and on the other enforcement actions, such as monitoring network for content) on the political spectrum

• Act as a beacon to society about the complicated political concerns of digital copyright

Conclusion

“Gladly would I learn, and gladly teach.”

Geoffrey Chaucer

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/