Ohio University is sitting comfortably at the bottom of a national list ' and for once, that's a good thing.
In February 2007, OU was ranked first in the country for music piracy notices with 1,287; now, more than a year later, the university has dropped to number 232 on that same list with only 159.
The list ranks the number of copyright complaints sent to universities from the Recording Industry Association of America under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The notices warn the university of potential legal liability for the school.
The Ohio State University now tops this list with 2,336 DMCA notices. Not far behind is the University of Central Arkansas with 1,811 and Michigan State University with 1,539.
OU's turnaround can be largely attributed to the introduction of CopySense, a program used to detect copyrighted material being downloaded through peer-to-peer software on OU's network, said Brice Bible, chief information officer for OU. Once the file is identified, CopySense blocks the student from completing the illegal download.
In 2007, the university paid $59,950 for CopySense and an additional $15,585 for support, maintenance and a year of database updates so that the software can detect newer files, according to a Feb. 28 Post article.
After the introduction of CopySense, the number of DMCA notices sent to OU dropped drastically, Bible said. CopySense has already been renewed for the 2008-09 school year.
We've been happy with it
Bible said. The new year for the school started July 1 so we'll keep it all the way through the next school year. Next spring we'll see G? if it's not (working for us) then we'll look at other alternatives.
Because of constant changes in technology, OU's future with CopySense remains uncertain, said Bible, adding that he is still open to new ideas from all facets of the university.
It works very well for today
(but) I don't know if it will work well tomorrow or the next day or the year after
Bible said. I want to hear from students G? I think students should be engaged in this discussion'and faculty
too.
However, Bible remains confident that OU has taken a step in the right direction.
OU collectively made a decision that works
I think
fairly well for OU
but what we do would maybe not work for another university
he said. OSU is now No. 1 on the list
and they have to make up their mind. Hopefully they'll do what we've done.
