File Sharing

Peer to peer file sharing is a popular, efficient, and legal way to share files for which you have legal license to distribute or receive via computer networks. There are many software clients that enable file sharing operating on networks such as BitTorrent, Gnutella, OpenNap, and Loafy. Luther does not expressly prohibit or prevent file sharing on our networks provided users have legal license to share the files they are sharing.

Receiving or transmitting files for which you do not have legal license to distribute is not permitted under Luther’s network use policies and is in many cases an illegal act punishable under criminal and/or civil law. Luther will contact any user found to be violating this policy with information regarding the claimed infringement. Failure to respond to and address the claimed infringement notice and associated activity may result in loss of network privileges and referral to the campus judicial system.

There are a number of issues that Luther community members need to consider when it comes to file sharing activity:

• All users of Luther’s network resources are legally responsible for their own actions. Luther as an institution cannot and will not provide legal protection for online activities, and we will cooperate with any lawful legal action directed at users of our network.

• Luther does not currently have any active processes to monitor the legality of traffic on our network. We believe users should be responsible for their actions and that it is not Luther’s responsibility to police compliance.

• Luther does not block any protocols on our network outright, though we do shape and limit bandwidth to individual users to ensure a positive network experience for all. There are legal and legitimate reasons to use peer-to-peer file sharing protocols, and we don’t believe it right to block certain types of traffic because they might be used illegally.

• People (and computers) are watching what you do online. If you are sharing files for which you do not own legal license to distribute, you run a good risk of being identified by copyright holders. If we are notified of fraudulent acts committed on our network, we can (and will) track who was responsible for the activity and hold them accountable for that activity.

• Installing and operating a personally-owned wireless access point attached to Luther’s network is not permitted. Any community member that installs wireless access points on the Luther network may have their access to network resources disabled and will be held responsible for all activity that occurs on that access point. This includes anonymous use by others of your access point. In cases where file sharing or other illegal activity occurs over open access points, we have and will continue to pursue punitive measures against the owner and manager of the wireless access point.

Luther encourages users who choose to acquire digital media to use legal and licensed services such as:

• Amazon
• iTunes
• Netflix
• Rhapsody

For additional questions on Luther’s file sharing policies, please contact Paul Mattson, (paul.mattson@luther.edu). For more information on your legal rights and responsibilities, please contact your legal advisor.