Violaters Beware
UW-Waukesha makes changes to track illegal activity
Sarah Duchow
Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: News
While on campus, UW-Waukesha's community of Wi-Fi users should have noticed a difference in their wireless experience. An e-mail was sent out on Nov. 19 that clearly stated, there would now be a new policy in place when attempting to access wireless internet. This is a result of one phone call.
UW-Waukesha's Dave Jaskie, received a phone call from the central office in Madison; who had received a serious complaint. It turned out that four violations had been committed on the UW system, tracing back to the UW-Waukesha campus. These violations consisted of illegal downloading and copyright infringement.
It turned out that in the last three months there had been four illegal downloads on the wireless network. Whether they were specifically films or movies, the school is not certain. However, due to the severity of the issue and the inability to locate individual offenders, the Computer Center Director, David Weber, was forced to take immediate action; securing the network. "I wanted this to be an open experience," stated Weber. "I feel bad that there were a few users who spoiled it… to me it is a shame."
With the threat of the possibility of major production companies taking action against the school, the secured network is the only way to protect its liability. Wireless users will now be forced to login using their student or faculty user name and password; just as if they were logging on to a campus computer. This policy will allow the school to monitor websites accessed and downloads performed. However, with no way to prevent future violations, at least this way the perpetrators can be located. On that note, potential violators should be aware that while they will not face punishment directly from the school, their names will be turned over to companies like the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America); who will then take action however they see fit.
While Nov. 19 was the first day users were informed about the policy, Nov. 23 will be the first official day it will go into effect. At this point, Weber has received only questions on how to access the network, whether there are any objections "It is too early to tell." Nevertheless this will become permanent.
UW-Waukesha's Dave Jaskie, received a phone call from the central office in Madison; who had received a serious complaint. It turned out that four violations had been committed on the UW system, tracing back to the UW-Waukesha campus. These violations consisted of illegal downloading and copyright infringement.
It turned out that in the last three months there had been four illegal downloads on the wireless network. Whether they were specifically films or movies, the school is not certain. However, due to the severity of the issue and the inability to locate individual offenders, the Computer Center Director, David Weber, was forced to take immediate action; securing the network. "I wanted this to be an open experience," stated Weber. "I feel bad that there were a few users who spoiled it… to me it is a shame."
With the threat of the possibility of major production companies taking action against the school, the secured network is the only way to protect its liability. Wireless users will now be forced to login using their student or faculty user name and password; just as if they were logging on to a campus computer. This policy will allow the school to monitor websites accessed and downloads performed. However, with no way to prevent future violations, at least this way the perpetrators can be located. On that note, potential violators should be aware that while they will not face punishment directly from the school, their names will be turned over to companies like the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America); who will then take action however they see fit.
While Nov. 19 was the first day users were informed about the policy, Nov. 23 will be the first official day it will go into effect. At this point, Weber has received only questions on how to access the network, whether there are any objections "It is too early to tell." Nevertheless this will become permanent.
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