Keep it legal online
Sharing and downloading copyrighted material from the internet without proper authorization is considered piracy and is a violation of federal copyright laws and K-State policy. The use of peer-to-peer (P2P) network applications to share copyrighted files is prohibited at K-State and blocked on K-State's network.
Penalties for copyright infringement can include both civil and criminal penalties. For violating K-State IT policy, a full range of sanctions are available that include the suspension of access to network resources or other appropriate university discipline, up to and including termination of employment and expulsion.
K-State
- IT Usage Policy
- P2P File Sharing Policy
- Prohibited File Sharing Programs
- K-State's Plan to Combat Illegal File Sharing
- K-State Copyright Office
- Penalties for Violation of K-State Policy
Federal
- Copyright Act
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (PDF)
- US Copyright Office
- Intellectual Property Rights Violations: Federal Civil Remedies and Criminal Penalties Related to Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, and Trade Secrets (PDF)
- Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws
Other
Legal Alternatives
See Educause's Legal Sources of Online Content for a comprehensive list of legal file sharing alternatives.
