What can you share?
As the practice of File Sharing continues to grow, make sure you are not sharing illegal or protected content.
What is Protected?
Copyright laws protect creative, informative, and practical work as long as it is original or fixed so it is perceived as original. This can include stories, music, movies, video games, podcasts, photographs, plays and more.
Examples
• Recording movies in theaters.
• Downloading movies and music without proper payment for use.
• Copying books, blogs, or podcasts without permission.
• Using others’ photos without permission.
• Uploading files for download without permission of owner.
The Risk
• Expose your network to viruses, spyware, worms and malware.
• Open your family up to identity theft.
• Put your children at risk of cybercrimes.
• Possible legal issues.
How We Know
• Copyright trolls monitor the web.
• Trolls contact Home Telecom with IP address of infringement.
• Home Telecom MUST inform the alleged offender to stop further infringement or we could face legal trouble.
How to Avoid
• Use Caution When It
Isn’t Your Work: A copyright symbol does not have to be present to be covered.
• Read License
Agreements: Sharing music online may not be allowed by the license agreements.
• Look for Fair Use:
Educational or non-commercial use of articles or photos may not be exempt from infringement.
Next Steps if You've Been Identified as Having Infringed on Copyrighted Material
Delete the Illegally
Downloaded Copyrighted
Material Immediately
If you've downloaded or uploaded copyrighted material (especially via a file sharing site), you can keep being identified as long as that file is available. You need to delete the file in all the folders it is in.
Change Your Wi-Fi Password
If your network is currently password protected and you did not illegally access copyrighted material, you should consider changing your password.
Contact the Copyright Owner
If you believe you've been identified in error or you have more questions, we recommend you contact the owner company of the copyrighted material directly. The contact information is included in the email you received notifying you of the offense.
Protect Your Wi-Fi
If you currently do not have a password on your Wi-Fi router, you should add a password immediately. This will stop neighbors and any other unwanted "Wi-Fi thieves" from jumping on your network to download illegal content. Home Telecom offers MyWiFi, a managed Wi-Fi service, if you're not comfortable managing your network on your own.
Educate Your Other Family Members
Many times, a person may not realize that they are even watching or illegally accessing copyrighted content. Jailbroken devices have become too commonplace for many people to realize that accessing certain content on that device is still illegal.