[Web4lib] [Publib] Digital Millennium Copyright Act Violation Notice...

[Robert Balliot]

What an excellent topic for discussion!

This represents all sorts of interesting issues.    It seems to me that
although someone in your library might have intentionally downloaded
something  they knew they had no right to, it wasn't really provided by your
library - unless you provided direct links to the data. Your ISP would have
been the source of the BiTorrent file, since they are the ones who actually
connect to the Internet. So, I am speculating that their reaction would be a
method of complying with Safe Harbor provisions.  This how DCMA has
been applied within the context of Google searches:

http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=19243

I forwarded your message to Web4Lib to gain a bit more perspective and bring
up the nerd quotient on the analysis.

R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm



On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Margaret Neill <mneill at las-cruces.org>wrote:

> Greetings all,
>
> We just got a letter from our ISP warning us that we could lose service
> because someone downloaded a copyright protected file from a BitTorrent site
> in our public computer lab. We're looking into ways to stop torrents from
> being run on our computers, but every solution has a work-around.
>
> So, I have 3 questions:
>
> 1. Has anyone ever had this problem before?
> 2. What protections do you have on your public computers to prevent such
> things? Download caps? Banning torrent sites? Disabling downloads? Disabling
> the running of programs not on an approved list?
> 3. As internet providers, our policy is pretty clear about not allowing
> illegal activities, but people do things anyway. To what degree are we held
> liable-at least in terms of the DMCA?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Margaret M. Neill
> Library Manager, Technical Services and Systems
> Thomas Branigan Memorial Library
> 200 E. Picacho Ave.
> Las Cruces, NM 88001
> Office: (575) 528-4043
> Fax: (575) 528-4030
> mneill at las-cruces.org
>
> "Everyone who knows how to read has it in their power to magnify
> themselves, multiple the ways in which they exist, to make their life full,
> significant, and interesting."
> - Aldous Huxley
>
>
>
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