IMPLICATIONS FOR UNIVERSITY POLICY - PowerPoint Presentation

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IMPLICATIONS FOR UNIVERSITY POLICYBL, JISC & MLA BRIEFING, 29/6/2010

Professor Charles

Oppenheim

C.Oppenheim

@lboro.ac.ukSlide2

A REMINDER ABOUT THE DEAPassed in the “wash-up” at the end of the last ParliamentI watched the debate on TV – the level of understanding by most MPs who spoke was zero

Very few MPs were present anyway

Lib Dems and Conservatives both spoke against the Bill; only Lib Dems voted against it; both are now in power, but are strangely silent on the matter

It is an appallingly worded piece of legislation, especially in terms of defining “ISP” and “subscriber”Slide3

ARE HEIs ISPs OR SUBSCRIBERS?The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills stated: it is not possible to say whether JANET is acting as an ISP or not; nor is it clear whether a university is a subscriber, ISP or is simply not in the scope of the Bill. As such, we cannot say simply who the ISP is and who is the subscriber, only that this is something that each university would have to look at and establish for themselves

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In other words, the Government Department that prepared the Bill has not the foggiest idea!Slide4

WHAT IF A UNIVERSITY IS A SUBSCRIBER?It will receive notices from its ISP (who is that? JANET??) telling it that alleged infringement has occurred on one or more of the machines it supports.

How is it expected to identify the alleged infringer, particularly for shared networked machines in libraries, PC labs, wifi enabled areas?

But if, after enough warnings, the copyright owners lose patience, the HEI may later experience reduced or zero connectivity for its staff or students.Slide5

WHAT IF A UNIVERSITY IS AN ISP?It is piggy in the middle, receiving complaints from the copyright owner and having to share in the costs of any subsequent actionExtra bureaucracy, record-keeping, etc. will be required

And it will have the same problems in trying to identify who the “culprits” are as noted alreadySlide6

LOTS MORE WRONGOnus is on alleged infringer to prove his/her innocence; this is contrary to norms of justiceCosts of appeals shared by parties even though there has been no Court case proving infringement

HEIs might be sued under Data Protection Act for holding inaccurate information about alleged infringers

So the hope was that Ofcom would clarify whether HEIs/JANET are ISP, subscriber or outwith the Act – but it has failed to do so

JANET certainly has >400,000 clients, the figure Ofcom is using to identify ISPs it proposes to bring under the Code in the first instanceSlide7

SO WHAT SHOULD HEIs DO?Lobby for clarification of the law, or its amendment; it is ridiculous that the Government should pass an Act that it doesn’t understand, and put on the onus on HEIs to decide for themselves whether they are covered by the Act or not

Take practical policy measuresSlide8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTI would like to thank Naomi Korn for much of what follows, which is taken from the document she produced and which is available today at this eventSlide9

POLICY MEASURES FOR HEIsKeep abreast of interpretations to, or changes to, the DEA Ensure that there are robust regulations in place for staff, students, visitors and contractors, in their use of institutional IT facilities and systems.

Watch out for development in JANET’s Acceptable Use Policy and any other announcements from JANET on the topic.

Ensure that all users of applications, software, systems or networks (including remote users and visitors) are aware of these policies and the need to comply with them, for example by providing a landing page that requires active consent to terms and conditions prior to access being permitted.  Slide10

MORETake REAL disciplinary procedures and/or legal action against those who breach the acceptable use policies and/or codes of conduct, with at

minimum suspension of the individual’s access to network services. 

Educate users on the correct and incorrect uses of copyright material of all kinds. 

Implement a rapid and robust notice and take down policy and procedures relating to infringing content appearing on web, repositories, VLEs, intranet etc.

Ensure that users authenticate themselves before gaining Internet access and that logs are kept as appropriate. Retention and use of this data must conform to the Data Protection Act.  Slide11

FINALLYImplement and advertise a rapid and effective process for receiving reports of copyright infringement, identifying and dealing with the responsible users

Monitor and manage new software installed by users on the organisation’s computers

Monitor, manage and where necessary block unacceptable or inappropriate web sites.  

Monitor and track web traffic and user activities.

Review policies for proxy servers and Virtual Private Networks. The same policies for logging activity, authenticating users, and restricting sites should be applied to them.