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Assessment of Copyright Policies, Procedures and Methods
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Federal regulations permit us to choose either a process-based assessment
or an outcomes-based assessment of our plan to effectively combat unauthorized distribution of
copyrighted material. Because Shepherd University used bandwidth shaping and traffic monitoring
for a long period of time prior to the new Federal regulations in 2009, an outcomes-based assessment
(measuring the reduction in copyright infringement notices, for example) would not be as reliable.
Our annual assessment is process-based. We compare ourselves to our peer institutions to determine
if our plans are similar in scope. When available, industry best practices will also be used.
Our current assessment concludes that our plans are effective. Of the four suggested technical means
to combat illegal downloading, Shepherd University uses two (bandwidth shaping and traffic
monitoring). Six Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices have been received within the past
year. All came immediately following the replacement of our bandwidth shaping tool. During that brief
period of time, no shaping took place because of needing to let it analyze our traffic. After its
replacement was completed, we have received no further copyright infringement notices. A review of
our peer institutions’ published copyright policies show that our plans are similar to others.
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