1 Student Dmca Complaint Policy
Student DMCA Complaint Policy & Reconnection Fee
Background
While file-sharing technology has revolutionized our ability to share information
with one other, its illegal use for pirating copyrighted materials is at unacceptable levels
at Stanford. On March 30, 2007 Stanford was listed as one of the Motion Picture
Association of America’s top 25 worst offenders
(http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=1969). We have also had a steep
increase in the number of piracy complaints filed against us by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA).
From September 2006 – January 2007, Stanford received nearly as many Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaints as we received in the entire 2005-06
academic year. Of these complaints, 90% are directed at undergraduate and graduate
students: students who are jeopardizing the Stanford network by using it as platform to
steal songs, movies, TV shows, video games, books and software.
As of May 2007, the RIAA has identified seven Stanford network connections
that have been targeted for its “pre-litigation” notification program
(http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/022807.asp). The RIAA has said that it will
continue to send out pre-litigation notices each month.
Keeping up with the number of file-sharing complaints coming in under the
DMCA has required almost three full-time Stanford employees. It is an irresponsible
waste of Stanford’s resources—your tuition dollars—to spend so much staff time
responding to copyright violations.
To defray these costs while underscoring Stanford’s stance on copyright,
beginning September 1, 2007, Stanford will charge violators Internet reconnection fees.
Student DMCA Policy
1st DMCA Complaint: The Information Security Office will forward a copy of the
complaint to the student, with an email instructing the student to
remove copyrighted content and respond to the Information
Security Office. A student has 48 hours to respond to the
Information Security Office (ISO) and attend to the DMCA
complaint. If the student addresses the DMCA complaint within
that time, there will be no disconnection, and no reconnection
fee. But if the student does not respond within 48 hours, the
student will be disconnected from the network. Once the DMCA
1
complaint has been addressed, the student will be charged $100
to be reconnected to the Stanford network.
2nd DMCA Complaint: The Information Security Office will forward a copy of the
complaint to the student and to the student’s Residence Dean.
The student will be disconnected immediately from the network.
Once the DMCA complaint has been addressed, the student will
be charged $500 to be reconnected to the Stanford network.
3rd DMCA Complaint: The Information Security Office will forward a copy of the
complaint to the student. The student will be disconnected
immediately from the network. Network privileges will be
terminated. The Information Security Office will file a
complaint with Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action. New
network privileges may be granted at Stanford’s discretion upon
the student agreeing to indemnify Stanford against any further
copyright violations, and paying up to $1000 to establish new
privileges.
Fees
Fees will appear on the monthly University bills.
Although the purpose of these fees is to discourage piracy and compensate the
University for resources spent dealing with DMCA complaints, for the first year of the
program, the affected departments have agreed that these fees will be transferred to
ASSU’s general operating budget to enhance Stanford student activities.
Policy Effective Dates
The imposition of the reconnection fee is the only substantial modification to
Stanford’s treatment of DMCA complaints against students. With the exception of
charging the reconnection fees, this Student DMCA Policy is immediately effective and
existing DMCA complaints will be treated under it. So if a student has already received
two DMCA complaints, the next complaint will be a 3rd DMCA Complaint under this
policy.
The imposition of reconnection fees will take effect on September 1, 2007. All
students will start at the $100 reconnection fee level. So if a student had one DMCA
complaint filed against her prior to September 1, 2007, then on receipt of a 2nd DMCA
complaint, Stanford will refer the matter to the student’s Residence Dean and once the
complaint has been addressed by the student, a $100 reconnection fee will be charged.
2
Additional Information & Resources
File-sharing copyrighted content without permission is against the law and against
University policy. There are many easy and inexpensive ways to access or purchase
entertainment content lawfully: Ruckus offers a free music service to college students,
http://www.ruckusnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=62; songs are sold individually for
less than a dollar; you can rent movies through the mail or buy them online; or you can
even visit the library. Downloading content illegally through the Stanford network is not
an acceptable option.
To avoid both legal and university consequences, please take the time to remove
unlawfully obtained copyrighted content from your computer.
For more information about Stanford’s Copyright Policies, see the Copyright
Reminder that was distributed this past October (http://www-
sul.stanford.edu/libraries_collections/copyright_reminders/index.html) and the Provost’s
letter from September 2004 in which he discusses file-sharing myths
(http://www.stanford.edu/dept/provost/news/ProvostFileshare2004.pdf).
Contact
Questions about this policy may be addressed to Lauren Schoenthaler, Senior University
Counsel at lks@stanford.edu.
3
