HEOA Summary of Penalties
Florence-Darlington Technical College's Compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Requirements and Plan to Effectively Combat Copyright Infringement
H.R 4137, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), is a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. It includes provisions that are designed to reduce the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted works through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. These provisions include requirements that:
- Institutions make an annual disclosure that informs students that the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials may subject them to criminal and civil penalties and describes the steps that institutions will take to detect and punish illegal distribution of copyrighted materials.
- Institutions certify to the Secretary of Education that they have developed plans to “effectively combat” the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.
- Institutions, “to the extent practicable,” offer alternatives to illegal file sharing.
- Institutions identify procedures for periodically reviewing the effectiveness of the plans to combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials.
Annual Disclosure
Florence-Darlington Technical College uses a variety of methods to inform the College community about the law and the College's response to copyright infringement claims.
- College Procedure 54-3, [link] which all college employees sign that they have read and agree to follow, includes statements on copyright compliance, especially P2P file sharing, and disciplinary actions for infringement.
- Statements on copyright compliance, especially P2P file sharing, and disciplinary actions for infringement have been added to all student computer login screens. Students must accept these conditions of use before they are allowed to complete their login.
- A Compliance Notice is displayed on the course management (Desire2Learn) login screen.
- A Compliance Notice is posted at each term’s open registration.
- A Compliance Notice appears in the College’s print and online catalogs.
- Posters are prominently displayed in all student computer labs explaining the illegal file sharing policy and consequences of infringement.
- Computing support staff, including student lab assistants are regularly trained on the College position with respect to copyright issues.
Plan to Effectively Combat Copyright Infringement
- Annual Disclosure steps are adhered to.
- The College employs a Barracuda web filtering and monitoring device.
- The College provides links to alternatives to illegal file sharing on the HEOA Compliance webpage.
- Once a year, as part of the College-wide Institutional Effectiveness process, the Information Technology division and other appropriate College personnel review the effectiveness of the plan to combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by users of the institution’s network using relevant assessment criteria. This review includes review of legal alternatives. The results of this review are posted on the HEOA Compliance webpage.
Alternatives to Illegal File Sharing
Educause maintains a comprehensive list of Legal Sources of Online Content. Members of the Florence-Darlington Technical College community are encouraged to take advantage of these legitimate sources of digital content.