Despite requests by the Recording Industry Association of America to universities to monitor their networks more closely, Library and Technology Services officials said they have no intention of complying. For several years the RIAA has targeted file-sharing activity on college networks, but only recently has the organization sent "pre-litigation" letters to students, accusing them of illegally sharing copyrighted material online and ordering them to pay a sum, or else face a lawsuit.

LTS received and passed on 15 such letters to Brandeis students last May. Thirteen settled outside of court, paying the RIAA about $3,000 each, but two are currently facing charges in federal district court, LTS officials said.

Chief Information Security Officer Dennis Devlin said that while the RIAA would like universities to play a bigger role in policing their networks, it's not LTS' role to monitor network "content," but simply to oversee traffic on the network, or general user activity.

"We don't look at the traffic that's actually going back and forth, we don't examine what's in there, we're really just looking at the volume of traffic, and the type of traffic that it is," Devlin said.

LTS officials only view network content when scanning for viruses.

"We are not looking at it for the purpose of determining what sort of thing it is, other than just to say whether it is malicious or not," Elliot Kendall, the systems administrator in the Office for Information Technology Services, said.

To look at network performance, to make sure that we have adequate capacity to serve the needs of the students, the faculty, staff and administration, and then to identify where there are problems, whether the computer is infected with a virus or a worm," he said, are the only concerns LTS has with network activity.

If a network member is using too much bandwidth, LTS sends the individual a warning. If the individual continues to use too much or violate other network rules, the user is kicked off the network.

Students can see how much network bandwidth they are using at http://netinfo.unet.brandeis.edu. The site also shows how much total bandwidth is available. According to the site, 462 users have been kicked off the network.

Devlin explained that unusual or very high amounts of network activity indicate a problem, and that illegal file sharing will show up as a very high amount of usage on the network.

The RIAA monitors such activity, as well as peer-to-peer Web sites to determine whether individuals are file sharing.

Kendall said that under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the University receives complaints from copyright holders, legally ordering the university to halt the illegal activity.

Brandeis is required by law to remove the computer that is sharing files from the network until that computer eliminates its illegal contents, Kendall said.

Each year network users have to agree to a certain code of conduct on the network before registering their computer, Devlin said.

Agreeing not to illegally file-share is one of those provisions. If an individual is found to be engaging in illegal activity, LTS leaves it up to the Office of Student Development and Conduct to handle the consequences through, Devlin said.

Kendall said that with the pre-lawsuit letters, the RIAA sends a letter to the University asking officials to inform the person associated with a particular [network] address that they must pay a sum to be taken to count by the RIAA. If the student doesn't respond, the RIAA can subpoena the university for the name of the student.

"If we didn't, we're not giving the student the choice of how to deal with the complaint," Devlin said.

"We're really trying to help students avoid problems," he said, explaining that a new curriculum called Digital Self Defense teaches network users how to avoid viruses, worms and notifications from the RIAA.

A pamphlet was given out to new students about protecting themselves on the Internet, and info sessions led by LTS officials are being offered this month.

"We're trying to protect the University's reputation and protect all the students by educating people about respecting copyrights, not doing things that are illegal," Devlin said.