Lewis Threatens To Unplug Illicit File Traders

Students caught sharing copyrighted songs and movies online more than once will lose their network access for one year, according to a message released by Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 this week.

“We call this severe consequence to your attention because the educational consequences of such a deprivation of access would be so very serious,” Lewis wrote in the message, which was posted on the College website and published in a paid advertisement in The Crimson yesterday.

Previously, the College had suspended network privileges only until users ceased sharing copyrighted materials, according to Frank M. Steen, director of Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS).

However, lawyers have since clarified that the school must contact all students identified as having shared files illegally and suspend all network access for a year for those who are caught more than once.

These measures bring Harvard into compliance with the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Steen said.

“If Harvard complies with certain terms of the DMCA, it will not be held responsible when a user downloads, distributes or displays…copyrighted material,” Lewis wrote in the message. “To obtain protection under the DMCA, Harvard must, in appropriate circumstances, terminate the network access of any user who repeatedly infringes the copyrights of others.”

In the letter, Lewis said the new policy was also partly a response to the marked increase in the number of notifications the College has received from the music and movie industry.

From January to March 2003, the College received 161 warnings about illegal file sharing from the entertainment industry, up from only 124 in the whole year of 2002, according to Steen.

“The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the music industry are being increasingly vigilant about violations,” Steen said. “They also have been much more serious about various things—they have filed suit against some individuals.”

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit April 3 against four students at Michigan Technological University, Princeton University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for alledgedly providing illegal downloads of more than one million songs on file sharing websites.

“Their network is no different than ours,” Steen said of the accused students.

By following up on all the complaints it receives from sources such as the MPAA, RIAA and Universal Studios, Steen said the College preserves its status as an internet service provider, and is thus not responsible for the actions of users of the network.

“We have to take action on the complaints—if we don’t, we endanger our own status,” Steen said. “The universities, by abiding with the rules are not liable for what the users of the network do.”

The school will still allow students one warning before they are disciplined, in part because files can sometimes be unwittingly shared, Steen said.

After HASCS notifies the student, it also offers aid in ensuring that copyrighted material on the student’s computer is no longer accessible to network users, he said.

“Often times, it was something put there [on the computer] without their knowledge, and then we can help them get it off,” Steen said.

The message clarifies that although students may be unaware of illegal files on their computer, they will nonetheless be held responsible for these files and any illegal activity through their computer, regardless of who actually commits them.

“Students should therefore be as vigilant as possible in monitoring access to their files, should take reasonable precautions to secure their personal computers,” Lewis wrote.

—Staff writer Katharine A. Kaplan can be reached at kkaplan@fas.harvard.edu.