The ease of illegally downloading movies, music and software through peer-to-peer software such as BitTorrent and LimeWire, has created a copyright infringement “epidemic” on campus, said William Sams, Ohio University’s Chief Information Officer.

An average of 10 to 15 notices of copyright infringement originating from university Internet provider addresses have been arriving daily Fall Quarter, Sams said. “It shows the need to be looking to better educate people at the University about copyright infringement issues.”

Software companies, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America have been sending the notices, which inform the university of illegal downloading, Sams said.

The university has received no actual subpoenas ­— orders to appear in court ­— since last February, which led to three lawsuits being filed against five students, Sams said.

If students are named in a lawsuit, their computer may be confiscated as evidence, said Jack Jeffery, director of University Communications and Marketing.

No lawsuits have been filed against students for copyright infringement during Fall Quarter, Sams said.

According to a February 16 Post article, Pat McGee, managing attorney for the Center for Student Legal Services, said cases of copyright infringement on which he has worked typically settle out of court for about $3,500.

Until recently, the university would inform students via e-mail that a notice accusing them of copyright infringement had arrived. This process was time-consuming and became impractical this year with the dramatic rise in notifications, Sams said.

A student’s Internet access will be immediately disabled on receipt of a copyright infringement notice, a policy that has been in effect since September 28.

Students can have their Internet access re-enabled by calling the service desk at the information security office and either contesting the notice or removing the offending files, Sams said.

Repeat offenders will have their Internet access turned off and will be referred to judiciaries, according to the new copyright policy.

The university provides an alternative to illegal downloads through Cdigix, a company that permits students to download music by entering an OU e-mail address. “Last year approximately 200 students used the service,” Sams said, “this year that number is around 2,500.” He attributed the large increase in the service becoming free for student use.

Cdigix spokeswoman Laurie Rubenstein refused to confirm any exact number of users but did say that OU was one of the larger schools using the company’s service.

Although students may download an unlimited number of songs or movies, there are several restrictions on their use.

The songs cannot be transferred to other computers or portable music players, and the program isn’t compatible with Apple computers. The company recognizes that incompatibility is a problem, but has no plans to implement compatible software at this time, Rubenstein said.

Statistics from the university’s Go Mobile program show half of the students purchasing laptops chose Apple computers, Sams said, adding that use of the program may be re-evaluated in light of this trend.