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Privacy
continued from page 1
no policy addresses surveillance of e
mails or personal files.
OUS Director of Legal Services Ben
Rawlins said students aren’t protect
ed from file searches. “The premise is
that it is the LJniversity’s equipment
you are using,” he said. “So the Uni
versity is extending the privilege to use
it, but it is the University’s property. ”
Rawlins also said there is no
threat of the University policing
users’ files. “They have a right, but
they would not choose to do it,” he
said. “It gets into a terribly expen
sive proposition, and it is inconsis
tent with the ethics of academia.”
During fall term, the University
searched files of high-bandwidth
users, found more than 250 stu
dents in the residence halls illegally
downloading copyrighted material
and pulled the plug on them, said
Norman Myers, residence hall com
puting services coordinator.
After meeting with the Office of
Student Conduct, students can have
their computer ports turned on again.
Since Jan. 1, Myers said, the Uni
versity has turned off the ports to
more than 25 residence hall users
for copyright violation. Nothing
protects students from having their
files examined on the probable
cause of heavy bandwidth use.
OPEU Local 085 Chief Steward
Ellen Klaastad said that the union
representing University workers is
aware of the situation.
“We tell our members to use a free
e-mail service,” she said. Free serv
ices, such as Hotmail or Yahoo!,
don’t store e-mails on the Universi
ty server, so they can’t be watched
in the same manner.
For its part, the Oregon University
System, which oversees the admin
istration and operation of Oregon’s
seven public universities, leaves the
establishment of such policies to in
dividual campuses, according to
OUS spokesman Bob Bruce.
University of California campus
es, on the other hand, operate under
a systemwide “Electronic Commu
nications Policy,” which states, in
part, that campus network users’
files may not be examined without
their consent, except in “emergency
circumstances,” such as a known
violation of law or immediate threat
to person or property.
UC spokeswoman Mary Spletter
said a general policy was developed
over the last few years, and individ
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No policy exists protecting users
of University servers from file
searches
In late October, computing officials
tracked the highest users of
bandwidth
Officials searched the files of the
highest-bandwidth users for
copyrighted files
During fall term, more than 250
students had their ports turned off
for copyright violations
University officials are developing
a privacy policy, which could
include protection from searches
Since Jan. 1, more than 25
additional students have had their
ports turned off for copyright
violations
ual campuses are free to establish
more specific policies. Spletter said
the Electronic Communications Pol
icy was designed to encourage inno
vation as well as offer protection.
“We look at our role as helping
develop the new technologies,” she
said, “rather than setting ourselves
up as police guards. ”
An Internet search of the nine Cali
fornia campuses’ press releases,
newsletters and student newspapers
found no instances of a UC school
searching through hies on a user’s
computer to determine copyright vi
olations. At UC Santa Barbara and UC
Berkeley, students have begn caught
illegally sharing music by the Record
Industry Association, but not by net
work administrators for the schools.
In an e-mail interview, UC Berke
ley’s network services director Cliff
Frost said the university doesn’t see
heavy bandwidth use as a rationale
to search users’ hies. Frost said he is
unaware of the university ever look
ing at a user’s hies.
Photo illustration by Thomas Patterson Emerald
UC system officials might not see
themselves as “police guards,” but
privacy protection is explicit in the
Electronic Communications Policy,
which says, in part:
“The university does not routine
ly inspect, monitor or disclose elec
tronic communications without the
holder’s consent. ... Such actions
must be authorized in advance and
in writing by the responsible cam
pus vice chancellor. ”
George Gregg, assistant housing
director at UC Santa Barbara, told
the school’s student paper, The Dai
ly Nexus, that the campus doesn’t
monitor the university network for
copyright violations “as a matter of
principle. We aren’t Big Brother.”
But until the University of Oregon
adopts a draft policy — and it in
cludes protection from file searches
—students should expect that heavy
bandwidth use could set off alarms.
E-mail copy chief Michael J. Kleckner
atmikekleckner@dailyemerald.com.
Violations
continued from page 1
regulating it so that we can have a
faster connection that isn’t slowed
down by all the downloading. ”
The University’s “Acceptable Use
Policy” states, “Illegally copied soft
ware subjects the University to risk of
litigation, and denies software authors
the compensation they deserve. ”
Simply put: The University will
take the blame.
The stakes are being raised for
students continuing to violate the
policy. A Jan. 9 e-mail from Informa
tion Services told students that they
would be bumped to a slower con
nection if were using caught using
file-sharing programs.
This would also allow all other
information to travel on the faster
connection.
University Housing is offering tips
on how to disable file-sharing pro
grams and giving students forms for
getting their Internet reconnected,
should they be kicked off the server.
“If you must share, pull any copy
righted material out,” advised Hous
ing’s ResNet Connections Technician
Doug Mason. “If it’s not yours and not
public domain, don’t share it! ”
Resident Assistant Kristen Miller
had her port shut off for violating
the copyright restriction in the Uni
versity housing contract. She knew
about the contract’s rules and re
ceived a warning to disable her file
sharing program—but the warning
came only after her service had been
turned off. Miller suggested the
warning be sent at the beginning of
the school year when people are get
ting their Internet connection.
She also advised residents to not
let anyone download from them,
and distributed fliers on what can
be done to comply with policy.
“I’m doing whatever I can to get
the word out to people in my hall to
be careful using the Internet, and to
avoid sharing files whenever possi
ble, ” Miller said. She added that she
hopes others in her hall will follow
this example and cut down on the
downloading.
E-mail reporter Robin Weber
at robinweber@dailyemerald.com.
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