Georgia’s Valdosta State University is currently tracking students engaged in file-sharing activity. Individuals caught using P2P software are likely to face disciplinary action and may even be turned in to the police.
“Once [the purported offenders] are identified, [the school] hands responsibility over to [law enforcement officials],” the VSU Spectator confirmed.
“Users can face felony punishments, including a possible prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000 per offense.”
However, as TorrentFreak notes, the new system and zero tolerance policy will undoubtedly cause “collateral damage,” due to the inherent difficulties in distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate use of P2P software.
“This means that booting up your BitTorrent client to download free films such as Snowblind [could] result in a referral to the police station.
“[Still], it seems that VSU’s harsh talk is part of a scare campaign to prohibit students from using P2P software.
“[As such], we doubt the police will be involved at all, and if they are, it seems unlikely that they will take any form of action without a complaint from a rightsholder.”
