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Procedures for Handling DMCA Complaints

Last Revised: January 23, 2009

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which was passed by Congress and subsequently signed into law in 1998 was designed to address copyright issues with digitally formatted intellectual property. You may refer to http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf for a summary of the DMCA or http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/hr2281.pdf for the full DMCA report.

The following procedures have been adopted by the University of Connecticut, consistent with the University’s policy on Individual Responsibilities with Respect to Appropriate Use of Information Technology Resources, in order for the University to be in compliance with the DMCA.

  1. As required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the University is required to designate an agent to receive notifications of claimed infringements The current designated DMCA agent is the Interim CIO of Information Technology, David Martel. Once the Interim CIO has been notified, a copy of the notification is sent to the Information Security Group (ISG) for processing.
  2. The Interim CIO forwards the notification to dmca@bowman.uits.uconn.edu. This email automatically opens an incident in the ISG Incident Handling System (IHS).
  3. The ISG will verify that the notice includes the following information:
    • Filename
    • Date and time of the infraction
    • IP address
    • Any other information that may help to provide information as to who is responsible for the complaint.
  4. Once verified the ISG determines whether this is a first complaint or whether there were previous complaints and prepares an email containing:
    • a copy of the claimed infringement notification;
    • reference to University acceptable use policy;.
    • the media access control (MAC) address that was associated with the internet protocol (IP) address during the time of claimed infringement;
    • the UConn network identification (NetID) or department ID of the user or department who registered the system that is associated with the claimed infringement.
  5. If this is a first complaint:
    • The Information Security Group will block internet access for all IP addresses registered to the individual in question and send notification to the individual’s University email address. The notification will explain that this is a 1st complaint, that his/her IP addresses have been blocked from internet access (traffic external to the University), and that the IP addresses will remain blocked until the Security Office is in receipt of confirmation from the individual that he/she has deleted the files(s) from the infringing computer’s hard drive and will cease and desist from any further file sharing activity involving copyrighted materials for which he/she does not have permission or license from the copyright holder. The notification will additionally state that if the individual believes that the notice is in error (i.e. that he/she did not knowingly download or share the materials in question) then he/she should still check the computer’s hard drive for the files listed on the notice and remove them.
    • Upon receipt of the confirmation from the individual, the IP addresses will be unblocked and the incident will be closed within the IHS.
  6. If this is not the first complaint:
    • The ISG will again block the IP addresses belonging to the individual from resources external to the University and send notification to the individual’s University email address indicating that this is a 2nd (or 3rd) complaint, and information concerning how the complaint needs to be resolved.
      • If the complaint involves a student, the notification will also state that the complaint has been referred to the Director of Community Standards for resolution, and that blocking will remain in effect until an unblock is requested by the Director of Community Standards. A copy of the notification will also be sent to the Director of Community Standards. In addition, the ISG will also send separately all materials pertaining to prior complaints. Once the complaint has been resolved within the Office of Community Standards, the ISG will be notified by the Director of Community Standards via email to security@uconn.edu with instructions as to when the block on the individual’s IP addresses should be removed.
      • If the complaint involves a faculty/staff member, the notification email will also be sent to the individual’s appropriate dean, director or department head (appointing authority) with a copy to Labor Relations and /or the Director of Human Resources. The appointing authority will be responsible for resolving the complaint and for notifying ISG via email to security@uconn.edu with instructions as to when the block on the individual’s IP addresses should be removed.
    • If the alleged infringer has a good faith belief that removal or blocking of the material is a mistake or that the material was misidentified he/she has the right under the provision of the DMCA to submit a counter notification. A counter notice from the individual must be a written communication to a service provider’s designated agent (David Martel) which includes substantially the following:
      1. The individual’s physical or electronic signature;
      2. Identification of the material removed or to which access has been disabled;
      3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the individual has a good faith belief that removal or disablement of the material was a mistake or the material was misidentified;
      4. The individual’s name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the individual consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District court (i) in the judicial district where the individual’s address is located if the address is in the United States, or (ii) in any judicial district where the service provider may be found if the individual’s address is located outside the United States (17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3)).

      Upon receipt of a counter notification, the complainant will be advised of this notice, and the block will be removed within 10-14 business days unless the complainant files suit against the individual within 10 days and provided the materials and/or access are not in violation of any University policy.

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