How did the University get Involved in the Complaint Against Me?

Copyright holders and trade associations representing them, like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and Business Software Alliance (BSA), spend a great deal of time and money scanning Internet traffic to identify the transfer of files containing copyrighted material. When they determine the IP address involved in the transfers, they generally send a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notice to the user's Internet service provider.

For purposes of the DMCA, ETBU is regarded as an Online Service Provider (OSP) for users of the ETBU institutional technology infrastructure. ETBU receives these DMCA notices from copyright holders. The DMCA recognizes that OSPs like ETBU generally should not be held liable for infringement by their users. This protection is removed if OSPs learn of alleged infringement and do nothing about it.

In order for ETBU not to be held liable for illegal activity by our network users, we follow the provisions established within the DMCA. When ETBU receives a notice alleging that the user has infringed a copyright, we must act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the infringing material. To comply with this requirement, ETBU will notify the user to remove all illegal files immediately. If they do not comply, the user's network access is disabled until such time as they are in compliance.

Additional Infromation: