P2P File Sharing Policy

Peer-to-Peer file sharing (P2P) is prohibited on the campus network at Yavapai College. This includes the illegal downloading or sharing of copyrighted materials, including music, games, and videos.

Why is it prohibited?

1. It is illegal. Both the U.S. Copyright Act, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, prohibits the distribution or sharing of copyrighted work without the copyright owner’s permission.
2. It is dangerous. The “peer-to-peer” software that is used for file sharing may bypass your computer’s operating system security and open your entire computer, along with your personal information, to anyone on the Internet.
3. It degrades our network performance. Because it is the nature of these programs to share your files with as many computers as possible, the resulting volume of network traffic can slow down or disable our entire network.
4. Finally, it is just wrong. Artists, writers, musicians and other creators of intellectual property rely upon copyright to protect their works. When you violate copyright by downloading and sharing these works, you are depriving the artist of real income, and clearly that is wrong.

What is the resolution?

Any computer running P2P software will be blocked from campus network access until the software has been removed from the computer. A Systems Administrator in IT must verify removal of the P2P software before network access is restored.