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As part of the Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) we are required to notify you annually that unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, may subject you to civil and criminal liabilities. Below is the summary of Civil and Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws. Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file-sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement. Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or "statutory" damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys' fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. The College of St. Scholastica IT department responds to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices in the following way. Initially the IT department will contact the individual involved in the alleged violation and provide the DMCA notification. We request that the individual remove the offending material from their computer and we also explain how illegal file sharing is a direct violation of our Acceptable Use Policy. A second violation involves the above actions with the addition of requiring the student to visit the IT department to make sure the offending material has been removed from their computer. A third violation results in the above actions in addition to the removal of network access until the student has met with the Dean of Students. For more information, please see the Website of the U.S. www.copyright.gov, especially their FAQ's at www.copyright.gov/help/faq. Links to free and low cost legal downloads can be found at http://www.educause.edu/legalcontent.