Content owners, such as the RIAA, often track distribution of their intellectual property on the Internet using the same P2P software (e.g. KaZaA, Gnutella, BitTorrent, Limewire, mIRC) as people who share files. They actively search for a particular copyrighted work on the Internet and when they find their copyrighted work, they are able to identify the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the file sharer. They may then issue an infringement notice to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) from which the file was being made available. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, Cornell is designated as an ISP and is notified of copyright infringement occurring on the campus network.
Once the University receives an infringement notice identifying a Cornell network user by a Cornell IP (Internet Protocol) address, Cornell can identify the user. An identified Cornell IP address can include any of your network registrations, the static address of a computer in a department at Cornell, or an IP address that you are assigned when you use the Cornell VPN network.
To use the Cornell Wi-Fi network, you have to register the unique hardware address of your computer’s Wi-Fi card. Cornell Wi-Fi addresses are dynamically assigned. This means that any number of people may use the same address throughout the day. Whenever you are given a roaming IP address and anytime your computer talks to the Wi-Fi network, the hardware address of your computer’s Wi-Fi card is recorded in the Wi-Fi logs. This hardware address can be matched to your NetID using your network registration.
To use a wired connection, you register the hardware address of your Ethernet card with the University. When you register, a wired IP addresses is assigned to your NetID for the remainder of the school year (unless you delete the registration).
If you’ve registered your Wi-Fi router using your NetID, any activity that occurs on the router is tracked back to you. This means that if your roommate is downloading a movie using the Wi-Fi connection you set up in your residence hall, you are likely to receive a complaint since you are the registered owner of the IP address.
You can access restricted Cornell resources (such as Library materials) from off-campus by using the Cornell VPN network. When you log onto Cornell VPN, your NetID is assigned a Cornell IP address and a record is created in the VPN logs. That IP address is assigned to you until you log off.
Portions of this page are based on web documentation produced by Yale University and are used with permission.
