With the music recording industry taking legal action against people who download illegal copies of copyrighted material, Lab employees need to remember that using LBNL computing or networking resources to share such files is also a violation of Lab policy, and violators are subject to disciplinary action. Such filesharing typically uses applications such as Napster, KaZaA or gnutella and the materials are often songs or films protected by copyright. According to Computer Protection Program Manager Jim Rothfuss, the Lab has received warning notices from the recording industry.

In addition to breaking copyright law and violating Lab policy, there’s another danger to such activity – some new worms are being embedded in such files and spread when users share the material.

For more information on what constitutes unacceptable use of Lab equipment, visit the Regulations and Procedures Manual.