Please refer to FSU’s policies regarding use of FSU computing resources. It is against FSU policy to participate in the violation of the intellectual property rights of others. In addition to the criminal and civil penalties, users who illegally copy or distribute copyrighted material or use P2P file sharing networks on campus may be required to watch educational modules, pay additional fines to FSU, lose computer and network privileges for up to 45 days, and in some cases privileges may be lost indefinitely.įSU prohibits any infringement of intellectual property rights by any member of the FSU community. Fines for willful cases of infringement can be as high as $150,000 for each copyrighted work. Statutory fines may be assessed without the copyright holder proving actual damages of the copyright infringing activity. Individuals who illegally reproduce or distribute copyrighted material may face criminal prosecution even if there is no monetary gain or commercial benefit.Ĭivil penalties have minimum statutory damages of $750 per song or movie. Criminal penalties for first-time offenders can be as high as 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Even sharing movies and music with friends is considered a criminal act. There are many risks associated with using P2P file sharing networks, including severe criminal and civil penalties from exposure to copyright law infringement. Illegally Sharing Music and Movies is a Crime! By installing P2P file-sharing software you open your files to millions of other users, even if you didn't mean to! With P2P networks, users who lawfully purchase music and movies online can easily find themselves on the wrong side of the law because their files are being shared without their knowledge.

Examples of P2P programs are Limewire, Frostwire, Kazaa Lite, Gnutella, and BitTorrent.

P2P networks are also used to distribute malicious software like viruses, worms and spyware. P2P networks are often used to illegally download and distribute copyrighted material, including music, movies, software and games. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks use end-user computers for both clients and servers and are commonly used to share electronic media.

Limewire p2p file sharing programs