In this age of RIAA thug tactics and multiple questions on what is and is not legal in online music file sharing, it pays to RIAA-proof your network. According to recent statistics, 85% of college students polled say copyright pirates are criminals, yet 76% believe it is legal to share copyrighted music files with friends if the music has been purchased legally.

This may not seem to make sense, but it is illustration of the new age in musical copyright law. Because of this seeming dichotomy of law versus common sense practice and fair use, the need for networks to beef up security is never more apparent than now.

There are several things you can do to help make your network RIAA proof. You can only control the people who use the network to a point, after that it is all about protecting yourself and the company. Our source recommends a nine step approach to the problem. Let me break it down for you.

• Get together with your company’s lawyer to formulate a plan of attack in case the need arises and to get their advice on corporate policy about music sharing and online downloads.
• Make a realistic assessment based on a review of similar organization about the risk you may face.
• Find out if your company falls under the “internet service provider” classification (most colleges and other educational facilities do because the provide net access, as do coffee shops with WiFi hot spots, for example)
• Find out if you should use one of the three RIAA approved vendors to set up a specific system of downloads (most people do not, but it doesn’t hurt to ask).
• Set up P2P filtering and network defenses like firewalls, access control systems, and other security applications and tools.
• Put locks on computers in your control that prevent user downloads of P2P applications.
• Get training materials on internet downloads and fair use from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and teach your workers the limits they detail.
• If you offer guest access to your network, make sure there are plenty of clear download and sharing warnings displayed on and near the machine(s) or access points.
• Include a clause in Employee Handbook and/or IT policy that expressly forbids unauthorized sharing, hosting or downloading of copyright material, no exceptions.

Having a comprehensive plan will go a long way toward protecting you from the bad decisions employees and guests can sometimes make. In this era of fuzzy logic on downloading, you just can’t be too careful. Protect your network.

Related:

Entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 10:41 pm under Legal, Music.

Read more entries by Leslie Poston.
Stumble It!