Every college across the country must either have installed software to block illegal file-sharing or have created some other procedure for preventing it. The requirement is part of the 2008 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which took effect July 1.
Some schools have been working to comply with the provisions for several years.
Under the law, student violators face fines from $750 to $30,000 for each song or movie downloaded. If a court determines the infringement was "willful," that fine can be as much as $250,000, although some judges have reduced higher fines, saying they're unreasonable. Schools' liability is limited if they cooperate with law enforcement.
Campus punishments vary. The University of North Carolina website lists expulsion as a possible consequence. Vassar College requires first-time offenders to perform 20 hours of "sanctioned service" and pay a $25 fine. Second-time offenders face double the service requirements, double the fines and loss of Internet access, says spokesman Jeff Kosmacher.
Most schools use commercial software on their networks to restrict downloads, says Gregory Jackson, vice president for policy analysis and advocacy at Educause, a non-profit that focuses on higher education and technology. Companies such as Red Lambda, based in Longwood, Fla., and Audible Magic in Los Gatos, Calif., automate a large portion of the process.
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