Important Message to Parents

Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles

The Internet is a wonderful resource for young adults. A little like the telephone, the best library on earth, and all the universities rolled together, the Internet has transformed learning and communicating far beyond anything before it. The Internet is the best thing to come along in centuries, but like many good things, there can be a dark side.

In the last several weeks some excessive bandwidth use issues have come to our attention.  They have had a serious impact on The SkyBeam’s network.  Peer-to-peer file sharing software seems to be causing this problem. Peer-to-peer or “P2P” software causes your computer to open it’s files to others on the Internet, and not only attracts but advertises for Internet users from all over the world to visit your computer.  Below, I have listed some important facts about peer-to-peer file sharing programs that Tulane University has put together.  It is especially important for parents. And others, that have young adults using their home computers, to understand the implications for their child, their computer, and our network.

The teen years can be a challenge for many young adults, especially young men. Many teens, as they grow into manhood, experience a time where they seem a little troubled or elusive to their family members. This is the natural progression from child to adult, and is also expressed by the need for the teen to find a sense of community. When I was a teen, it was long hair and rock and roll music, much to the chagrin of my parents. Today it seems many teens are finding their community on the Internet, through chat rooms and file sharing software.

Free and readily available peer-to-peer file sharing software such as eDonkey, LimeWire, eMule, Gnutella, and literally dozens of others are free for the taking on the Internet. These peer-to-peer programs offer the young adult an easy and free way to “belong” to a community. Unlike the rock and roll community of my teen years, where we meet face to face and it would be nearly impossible for an old pervert to dress, look, and come across as a teen, the Internet’s anonymity is especially attractive to predators of the young. As in all communities, for the young adult to feel himself a good member requires “giving” to the community. Giving, or sharing, is the keystone of these P2P networks. The more the young adult shares, the more he feels himself a valued member. Sharing of music, programs, digital movies, and other computer data is not the only type of sharing promoted and expected over these P2P communities. The P2P chat rooms, where your child thinks he is communicating with his young peers, is infested with many predators and criminals who come across as friends or mentors to your child. Many of these criminals are only after your money through credit card numbers and bank accounts, but a few are after your child! Your child’s need to “belong” may overcome his common sense, and he may share his phone number, street address, school name and location, and other private information that could lead a predator or thief to your home.

Many P2P programs claim to be safe for your computer and it’s data, but in reality can expose ALL of your computer’s data to prying eyes. The criminals infesting these P2P networks can read your banking information, letters, memos, see your digital photographs, and read your private emails and more.

Downloading and sharing copyrighted files is a serious issue.  Many ISP’s “Internet Service Providers” throughout the country are struggling to cope with the growing problem of resources being used for illegal file sharing.  The following provides some information about the legal ramifications of sharing copyrighted materials and the impact of peer-to peer programs on your computer and the network. Peer-to-peer file sharing, as a method of file transfer, is legal. If you want to share your grocery list with the world, that is acceptable, but sharing most computer programs and digital music is a violation of federal law.

Peer-to-peer file sharing is not legal when copyrighted material is shared without consent of the owner of the copyright. Additionally, peer-to-peer file sharing consumes excessive amounts of the ISP’s bandwidth, and can slow the network for all users.

A. What you CAN do:

The DMCA, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998) seeks to protect copyright holders from the technological circumvention of previous copyright statues. In 1976 the concept of "Fair Use" was added to the existing copyright clause of the US Constitution. Fair use is not defined in the constitution, it was decided in the courts. There are, however, Supreme Court decisions that have defined fair use based on other cases that can reasonably be interpreted to mean the following:

You can rip music that you have legally purchased to MP3s so that you have them in a digital format.

You can store the songs in your computer or MP3 player, for you own personal use.

You can burn your own "mix" CDs using your own CD collection, as long as you keep that mix CD in your possession.

These same principles apply to movies, books, computer programs, or any other copyrighted material that you may own.

B. What you CANNOT do:
Distributing, uploading, downloading, and transmitting music and movies without the consent of the copyright owner is illegal. The same way software vendors, such as Microsoft and others, actively seek out and prosecute unauthorized use of their software, the music and movie industries have begun to seek out computer systems and individuals who upload, download, and transmit music and movies in digital formats without authorization.

While it is unlikely that you would be criminally prosecuted for downloading a single song, it is illegal. A more likely scenario would be that your peer-to-peer software was by default sharing all the MP3s, and other data, stored on your computer. Regardless of your knowledge or intent to do this, it is still a crime and the music and movie industries are seeking out and prosecuting offenders.

Network Performance
Peer-to-peer file sharing programs significantly degrade the speed of the network and the performance of your computer. If your computer is acting as a file server, by the use of one of these P2P programs, and sharing DVDs and MP3s, your network speed will be substantially diminished.

System Vulnerabilities
Popular peer-to-peer file sharing programs contain spy-ware that can record computer usage, deliver advertising and other unsolicited files, and allow others access to your files and resources. You are also vulnerable to Trojan horses, viruses, and other malicious code every time you download a file.

C. What you SHOULD do:

If you have a young adult in your home, or a grandchild or nephew who visits you and uses your computer, talk to them about this letter. The SkyBeam is currently aware of three of our customers who are running a P2P program on their computers. If you think you may be one of these customers, contact J.R. Whipple, The SkyBeam’s chief technical officer via phone (530) 824-4305 or Email: Lab@TheSkyBeam.com and J.R. will tell you if your computer is running one of these P2P programs. The SkyBeam does not pry into, or view any of our customer’s Internet usage. We do not know what you are doing with your computer, but we can detect active P2P programs on our network, and which customer’s computers are responsible.

D. What The SkyBeam WILL Do:

Although The SkyBeam can’t protect your computer from any P2P programs, we can detect their usage. As we detect a customer’s usage of a P2P program, and in order to safeguard our network from the high bandwidth demands of these routines, we will first lower that particular customer’s speed on our network, and notify them via email. If the customer persists in using these P2P programs, we may terminate their Internet access all together, as this is a violation of our service agreement.

What you do today may help your teen mature into a responsible adult and respected citizen, and help us maintain a great network.

If you have any questions about this information, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for your help in this matter. -J.R. Whipple