Correction: Friday’s “”Students cited for Internet theft”” stated that 300 to 400 infringement notices were received by the UA during the 2001-2002 school year. The 300 to 400 infringement notices were actually received since the 2001-2002 school year. The Wildcat regrets the error.

The number of official copyright infringement notices received by the UA has jumped this academic year, a change that could be caused by more students downloading movies and television shows on-campus.

Since July 1, the UA has received 186 infringement notices, up from 99 in the 2005-2006 school year, said Dan Lee, the interim team leader for undergraduate services and the copyright librarian for the UA Main Library.

The figure is still lower than the 300-400 infringement notices received during the 2001-2002 school year, Lee said.

Although unable to account for the recent surge in the notices received, Lee said the type of material being downloaded has changed.

“”There is

now less music being downloaded and more television shows and movies,”” Lee said.

NBC/Universal, the International Registry of Artists and Artwork and Paramount Studios are among those that send the largest number of notices, Lee said.

Once a copyright owner tracks down the IP address of the individual illegally downloading their material, they look up the agent that is assigned to that particular IP address, Lee said.

In the case of the UA, Lee is the agent.

Once the official copyright infringement notice is received, the UA student is notified and often removed from the system, Lee said.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the UA, as an Internet service provider, is protected from copyright infringement as long as they remove copyrighted materials from the network, Lee said.

Marty Schaeffer, an electrical engineering senior, was kicked off the server three times while living in Yuma Residence Hall, 1107 E. James E. Rogers Way.

Schaeffer and another student were on the same sub-network and unintentionally shut it down after downloading a large volume of material that used up the server’s bandwidth.

“”They sent us a letter and removed us,”” Schaeffer said.

Schaeffer said he downloaded a movie, then received a letter from the company that created the film.

The second time he received a letter, it was from the network administrator.

“”The third time, I had to set up a meeting with him,”” Schaeffer said.

Although not allowed to access the Internet in any of the residence halls, Schaeffer said he is still allowed to get on the Internet in any department and in the library.

Two of the three times he received a notice, Schaeffer was using peer-to-peer software called BitTorrent.

Unlike other peer-to-peer sharing programs such as Kazaa and LimeWire, BitTorrent software does not allow you to download files without uploading your own. Movies and television shows can be downloaded more quickly using BitTorrent than by using other peer-to-peer software.

As a result, a ban of the use of BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer software is being considered by many colleges, with some, including Churchill College and Green College at the University of Oxford, enforcing the ban, according to the universities’ Web sites.

The UA has no specific policy for the use of any specific software, Lee said.

Efforts made by copyright owners and the UA have curtailed the activity of some illegal downloaders.

“”I haven’t done it in a long time,”” Schaeffer said.

Regardless of the persistence of copyright owners, the UA administrators and university policies, illegal downloading will remain a concern.

“”I don’t know how much downloading is actually going on,”” Lee said. “”I only know the notices I get from the content owners.””