so I guess all torrents are illegal

[DaveL22]

So I got this email from my university (Ohio University) today...



Dear OHIO Students,

Ohio University's computer network is central to many academic,
research and university-life activities, providing reliable
communications not only on campus but also across the world. Because
this network is a shared resource, we must ensure that it is available
to all campus users equally. Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing
currently consumes a disproportionate amount of campus technology
resources, including both bandwidth and technical support. It also
poses risks to the security of our network by opening ports on
individual computers that can be used to spread viruses and spyware
or to launch attacks against other computer systems. Finally, it
often is used for illegal distribution of copyrighted works over our
network.

In accordance with OHIO's Computer and Network Use policy 91.003, we
will begin restricting P2P file sharing on our campus network at 12:01
am on Friday morning, April 27, 2007. Beginning then, any campus
computer that we detect in violation of this policy will have its
Internet access disabled until its owner or primary user contacts the
IT Service Desk at 740-593-1222 and agrees to work with us to resolve
the problem and to abide by the university's Computer & Network Use
policy in the future. A second violation on the same computer will
result in that computer's Internet access being disabled until further
action is taken by the appropriate disciplinary body. Students will
be referred to University Judiciaries. Other network users will be
handled in a manner consistent with established university disciplinary
policy.

This approach applies to all users of our campus network and will be
enforced consistently.

To learn more, visit:

<http://technology.ohio.edu/help/blocked-faq.html>

OHIO's Computer & Network Use policy can be found here:

<http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/91-003.html>

If you have any additional questions or need help with the
configuration of your computer, please contact the Service Desk at
740-593-1222 or <servicedesk@ohio.edu>.

There will be an information session about this new policy for all
campus network users at noon on Thursday, April 26 in Baker Center 230.

Sincerely,
Mr. Brice Bible, Chief Information Officer
Dr. Kent Smith, Vice President for Student Affairs

I mean how the heck am I supposed to get my linux distros!!!
Pretty much every torrent p2p program is banned, my question is will they think i am up to something if I am just doing updates or upgrading to the next version? Perhaps i will just have to use the mirrors now...

[~LoKe]

Talk to them and tell them what you use it for.

Also, I think you can download the ISO directly from some places.

[the_darkside_986]

They are probably just upset because of how much bandwidth it takes. At my campus, Azureus is supposed to be blocked but some people go to the lab and turn on the encryption option in Azureus. I don't know how that works though. Luckily I don't live on campus.

[TheMono]

It is the classic sledgehammer to crack a nut. I have no doubt though that you could get a copy of something like Ktorrent, and mod the source in some way as to avoid the packets being obviously bittorrent packets - a combination of encryption on the packets, and renaming the program for when it identifies itself...

[KiwiNZ]

torrents are not illegal , what you transfer maybe illegal .

Many organisations block P2P by policy. I issued a directive as such to the Organisation I work for. I eventually blocked all p2p at the firewall.

[Amackera]

My university (the University of Waterloo) has had a similar policy ever since I was a freshman. Other than using the mirrors, see if your university has a server set up with all the latest distros on it. UW does, but I can't speak for everyone.

[Polygon]

not all torrents are illegal.



Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing
currently consumes a disproportionate amount of campus technology
resources, including both bandwidth and technical support


is the reason why its getting banned at your university. sucks =/

[tbroderick]

http://www.wififreespot.com/oh.html

There is a few places listed in Athens, OH.

[Slackpacker]

That sucks. They are in all likelihood using RedLambda (http://www.redlambda.com/), and while I would suggest complaining, I doubt they can or will make an exception for you. If there's a Linux/Unix user group on campus, maybe you could suggest that they make the .isos available on the campus network? On the bright side, by now the mirrors are probably freed up - I got Xubuntu in a couple of hours that way a week ago.

[beefcurry]

Fight for your own internet rights :). So does that mean WoW updates are also banned over at Ohio U?

[karellen]

not all, only those who carry illegal content (as a university may enforce some restrictions on the connection it provides, it's their right I suppose)

[jiminycricket]

Just a silly thought because so many of us dl'ing torrents of Linux distros, but the RI/MPAA probably doesn't want you using Linux in any case. It cuts out all that fun DRM stuff...

[sloggerkhan]

I really think that you have legitmate cause to file complaints with your campus. I suggest you get get involved in internet advocacy as it pertains to your campus. I think on my campus we have made it so that such proposals will at least not be applied to dorms (for now). When dealing with such issues, stress that considering what you pay to live on campus, the internet service should be competitive with that of third party service providers.

[ssam]

if you are at a uni try using a .edu mirror to download from. you'll probably be able to download at 10Mb/s

(this works at the university of manchester in the UK, downloading from the mirror.ac.uk site)

[igknighted]

I really think that you have legitmate cause to file complaints with your campus. I suggest you get get involved in internet advocacy as it pertains to your campus. I think on my campus we have made it so that such proposals will at least not be applied to dorms (for now). When dealing with such issues, stress that considering what you pay to live on campus, the internet service should be competitive with that of third party service providers.

I disagree. I think that because it is a school, its primary purpose is as an academic institution. The traffic that p2p and torrents put on the network is tremendous. My school blocks them too, and when they did our internet shockingly didn't cut out spontaneously. Also, schools don't want to fight the RIAA, so they try to cover their ***. Shameful, but understandable.

The only thing I have taken issue with is my school blocking IRC. They claim it is a p2p service, but I need it for beginners team meetings here as well as meetings with the SAM Linux dev team... both (IMO) fairly legitimate reasons, and thankfully I have an off-campus box I can ssh to for this, but its really annoying.

[maniacmusician]

I disagree. I think that because it is a school, its primary purpose is as an academic institution. The traffic that p2p and torrents put on the network is tremendous. My school blocks them too, and when they did our internet shockingly didn't cut out spontaneously. Also, schools don't want to fight the RIAA, so they try to cover their ***. Shameful, but understandable.

The only thing I have taken issue with is my school blocking IRC. They claim it is a p2p service, but I need it for beginners team meetings here as well as meetings with the SAM Linux dev team... both (IMO) fairly legitimate reasons, and thankfully I have an off-campus box I can ssh to for this, but its really annoying.
In a normal situation, I could agree with this, but most colleges are not only an academic institution. They also provide housing. Students that live on campus have no other venue from which to obtain sufficient access to the internet, and so it is inconvenient to restrict their access.

On the other hand, the school is also essentially providing free internet access, so it's really up to them what they want to allow or restrict. It's a tough situation, but the best solution may simply be to assign static addresses and limited bandwith to students, in exchange for complete freedom as to what they can use the internet connection for. The alternative is to keep it as it is now, with restricted access, but unlimited bandwith and usage.

[sloggerkhan]

That's what I'm getting at: Dorm residents are getting housing and they are paying as a part of that housing cost to have internet to use not only for academic pursuits, but for personal use. This means that the service provided to Res Halls and Dorms must have the standard of home/private use, even for non-academic purposes, whereas other campus networks do not need that standard.

Any student who lives in dorms here will tell you internet is not free... We pay more than an apartment costs for the convenience of living on campus, and decent net access better damned well be included.

[igknighted]

That's what I'm getting at: Dorm residents are getting housing and they are paying as a part of that housing cost to have internet to use not only for academic pursuits, but for personal use. This means that the service provided to Res Halls and Dorms must have the standard of home/private use, even for non-academic purposes, whereas other campus networks do not need that standard.

Any student who lives in dorms here will tell you internet is not free... We pay more than an apartment costs for the convenience of living on campus, and decent net access better damned well be included.

I think the school gets the internet connection they share with you at a reduced academic rate, so I think you are subject to more restrictions. Besides, since its their servers they can do what they want, you don't have to use it. We had to sign a paper that said these are the rules, this is what we promise you, etc. Besides, real ISPs throttle p2p bandwidth and some even block torrent traffic too.

[sloggerkhan]

I wouldn't have any issue with anything you say except that ordinary consumers can CHOOSE an ISP, whereas college students living on a campus can't. If U's allowed student to get 3rd party net access, I'd have much less of an issue with such policies.

[Pobega]

I think it's actually more of a bandwith waster than it is illegal. Hopefully my college doesn't do that to me.

[Tmi]

Had a similair thing on my university network where they blocked all p2p. There were automatic 24 hour disconnects if you tried to use a p2p-program. I was not happy when a World of Warcraft patch came :P