You may believe that sharing of copyrighted materials is unlikely to be noticed, but this is not the case. Copyright holders and their agents use automated methods to identify infringements. Even modest sharing may be noticed. In August, the RIAA brought lawsuits against 261 individuals for illegally sharing copyrighted music. Of these, 52 settled during September for amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.

In compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), UNC-Chapel Hill expeditiously takes action when notified of potential DMCA violations from computer systems located on the campus network. Incidents are referred to various campus officials, and appropriate actions are taken to stop unauthorized downloading or distribution of copyrighted materials. In some cases, the university may also take disciplinary actions. The UNC-Chapel Hill Guidelines for Compliance are available for online review at http://www.unc.edu/policy/copyinfringe.html.