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 File
Sharing
Simply put, File sharing is the practice of making files
available for other users to download.
Violates campus
policy
File sharing while here on campus is a no-no. There are many reasons
for this, which include but are not limited to the following:
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It may be illegal
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It wastes bandwidth
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The files your getting may be virus
or spyware laden (see below)
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The software you use may be virus
or spyware laden (see below)
General rule: NO peer-to-peer file sharing on campus under any
circumstances. Note that giving students items through WebCT is
completely different, but you still need to make sure that you are
not violating copyright law when you do that.
Further, if students are caught filesharing copyrighted material
illegally, they will be turned into the Dean of Students for
disciplinary action, most likely expulsion.
Legal issues
Alright, so you aren't going to download here on campus. You can
always do it at home, right? Better think again...
Many times, file sharing is associated with copyrighted materials,
which is illegal in the United States (READ: If they are,
DON'T DO IT! You could find yourself being sued very quickly!).
However, many open-source Softwares are legal to share, and their
authors/owners even encourage it.
The surest way to keep safe IF you are going to do file sharing is
to make sure what you are sharing or downloading is free from any
copyright provisions against such activity. Still, you need to
beware as you download files, as people may make them unsafe to use.
Unsafe/modified
files and programs
If legal issues weren't enough to persuade someone to avoid file
sharing, there is another concern: unsafe/modified files and
programs.
Sometime people with the technical know-how will purposefully modify
files that others are looking for in order to take control of there
computers (see the
Spyware and
Downloaded Programs pages for more on these threats).
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