lyle@sjuvax.UUCP (02/01/88)
I am writing this message to get an idea of how other
schools handle the following situation.
A few days ago I was working in one of the campus Personal
Computing Labs when I noticed a student making a stack of disk
copies. (I am not really that nosy, but the situation was
occurring right next to me.) I took a glance over to see what
this person was copying, and noticed that all the disks were
labeled similar to those of WordPerfect (System disk, Speller, etc,.).
I thought it best to make a comment to the person that the copying
of software is a Federal Offense. The person replied that she was
only making a copy from the copy that a friend had given to the person.
I repeated to this person that it is illegal.
The only thing I could make the person do is stop copying the
disk. Now my questions:
Has anyone else ever encountered this situation? Is so, what
kind of measures were taken to correct the situation? In this
case it was outside software, but what if they are copying the
universities software? What do you do with teachers who promote
the software pirateing.
Thanks to all in advance.
=====================================================================
Wayne J. Lyle St. Joseph's University
Academic Computing Philadelphia, Pa 19131
{allegra | astrovax | bpa}!sjuvax!lylehes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer) (02/03/88)
In article <1141@sjuvax.UUCP>, lyle@sjuvax.UUCP writes: > ... > What do you do with teachers who promote > the software pirateing. > ... > Wayne J. Lyle St. Joseph's University > Academic Computing Philadelphia, Pa 19131 > {allegra | astrovax | bpa}!sjuvax!lyle We have a policy which applies to students, faculty and staff. It starts out: Unauthorized copying or use of computer software is a violation of federal law, a likely breach of a license agreement, and an action that also may subject the perpetrator to discipline within the University. and then after a number of paragraph covering restrictions and proper practice, ends with the sentence. In the final analysis we demean the integrity of the University and all it stands for when we engage in unauthorized copying or use of computer software. This policy letter is circulated to all departments each fall, and appears in our Faculty Handbook (which has all the official rules and procedures.) --henry schaffer n c state univ
djm408@tijc02.UUCP (David Marks ) (02/03/88)
in article <1141@sjuvax.UUCP>, lyle@sjuvax.UUCP says: > > > I am writing this message to get an idea of how other > schools handle the following situation. > > A few days ago I was working in one of the campus Personal > Computing Labs when I noticed a student making a stack of disk > copies. [ describes attempt to tell student to stop ] > > The only thing I could make the person do is stop copying the > disk. Now my questions: > > Has anyone else ever encountered this situation? Is so, what > kind of measures were taken to correct the situation? In this > case it was outside software, but what if they are copying the > universities software? What do you do with teachers who promote > the software pirateing. > > Wayne J. Lyle St. Joseph's University > Academic Computing Philadelphia, Pa 19131 > {allegra | astrovax | bpa}!sjuvax!lyle When I was one of the managers of the CS dept.'s Leazar Computing Facility at NC Sate in 1985-86, we were forever plagued with this problem. I told all my operators that under no circumstances could a student use the facilities' equipment to copy copyright software without written consent of the copyright owner. Many times I had to stop students from copying software. I took the position that a student bringing a pirate copy to use at the computing facility was ok, because I could not determine whether the copy was "ok" or not. However, he could not make copies at the center without written consent of the copyright owner. We had lots of students with their own pirate copies of WORDSTAR. It is difficult to "police" a computing facility that is open 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. I worked hard to establish a mutually cooperative relationship with all the CS dept. faculty so that I could ask them such things as not to promote the copying of copyright software (especially NC Sate software) without the consent of the department chairman. You will find that some faculty members tend to think of themselves as above rules and regulations that even hint of impeding their or their student's work. These can only be dealt with through the university administration, such as their department head. I suggest that all students that wish to use a computing facility be issued some sort of id (or for a mainframe center, a login id) for which they have to sign some sort of paper specifying in detail what they may or may not do at the center with copyright software, and what the consequences of violating the school's policy would be (such as withholding of grades, expulsion, or prosecution). Where I was, a login id would have sufficed, as they could not access our Data General MV8000 without it. At a micro computer lab, a paper id may be necessary to gain admissions to the center. Another possibility is to have students sign such a paper as described above when registering for courses. You cannot possibly catch every case of software piracy at a school facility, but with a written policy known by all students and faculty, you can make some headway. Only those students and faculty who regularly ignore school policies would then be a problem. The key is that the policy be visible and always enforced evenly, fairly and regularly. Prominent signs on the facilities' walls can help. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- #include <standard/disclaimer.h> LIFE IS NOT A MALFUNCTION! David J. Marks Texas Instruments Ms 3520 Erwin Highway/P. O. Drawer 1255 Johnson City, TN. 37605 mcnc!rti!tijc02!djm408
cd@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Clarence K. Din) (02/04/88)
In article <1141@sjuvax.UUCP> lyle@sjuvax.UUCP (Wayne J. Lyle) writes: > > Has anyone else ever encountered this situation? Sure. It happens all the time at BU. >If so, what >kind of measures were taken to correct the situation? As it stands, nothing. Copying software is so rampant here that nothing CAN BE DONE about it. We have several rooms with IBM PC's and the majority of their use is in copying software. >In this >case it was outside software, but what if they are copying the >universities software? I work as a consultant for BU's Academic Computing Center. We allow the copying of "public domain" software, but there isn't really anything we could do if a user wants to make a "backup copy for his/her own private use," etc. >What do you do with teachers who promote >software pirating? There are other things a big school like BU worries about. --------------------------------------------------------------- ////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ E-Mail: cd@bu-cs.bu.edu Boston University Computer Science Dept. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ////////////////// ---------------------------------------------------------------
scott@pdntg1.UUCP (0000-Scott Holt(0000)) (02/04/88)
In article <1141@sjuvax.UUCP> lyle@sjuvax.UUCP (Wayne J. Lyle) writes: > > Has anyone else ever encountered this situation? Is so, what >kind of measures were taken to correct the situation? In this >case it was outside software, but what if they are copying the >universities software? What do you do with teachers who promote >the software pirateing. > Teachers who promote illegal copying of software put their institutions at a legal risk. If an effort were made to bring that risk to the attention of the instructor, the dean and other adminstrators, something might be done. About all you can do is write a letter. Send a copy to the instructor and his dean; perhaps even the president of the school. Also consider sending a copy to the school paper, if they have a habbit of printing reasonable letters from any viewpoint. Besides being tough on the individual instances you witness, writting a letter is about all you can do. At the very least, a letter brings the problem to the attention of someone with the authority to do something about it. Schools can better cope with software pirating by trying to eleminate the need for it. Some vendors now offer their software with a liscense for unlimited copies. Schools can also develop their own applications and distribute as many copies as they want. Such things as communications software and specialized applications are good candidates for this. Schools can also make better use of public domain software, there is a growing volume of good PD stuff. - Scott ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The opinions related in this article are mine and do not reflect the opinions of my employer. I am solely responsible for the contents of this article. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Holt Paradyne Corporation ..!gatech!codas!usfvax2!pdn!pdntg1!scott 8550 Ulmerton Rd MS-LF207 Largo, FL. 34649
ken@aiva.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson) (02/04/88)
I'd not stop anyone making a copy, but I have told students before taking groups into the micro lab for the first time something along the lines of "By the way, those of us who make a living by writing and selling software worry more about illegal copying than people who don't". I have never seen anyone make an illegal copy in a class. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From Ken Johnson, AI Applications Institute, The University, EDINBURGH Phone 031-225 4464 ext 212 Email k.johnson@ed.ac.uk
mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (02/04/88)
It should be pointed out that there is such a thing as "fair use". This means that (and I am not a lawyer, see YOUR laywer, etc.) if you want to talk about ,say, the initializiation (startup) code of the Microsoft C compiler in class, you could print it out and pass out Xeroxes to the class. It would probably be similar to give it to them on floppies. This is because it is such a tiny part of the distribution. Any lawyer types on the net want to comment? As to policing people by standing over their shoulders, I suggest that you go out and pirate a copy of the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. :-) Doug McDonald University of Illinois
taylorj@byuvax.bitnet (02/05/88)
Here at BYU there is an official policy condemning software piracy. This
policy has been well-publicized recently, and surprisingly enough, it has
seemed to make a difference.
I've been told that the university can be held responsible for any illegal
software copying done on its equipment with or without its knowledge. If
this is true, some large software publisher may decide to take a university
to court in an attempt to make an example. Perhaps they'll go after a "big
school like BU" that has been worrying about other things instead ;-).
Jim Taylor
Microcomputer Support for Curriculum, Brigham Young University
taylorj@byuvax.bitnet