File sharing on the DC++ hub must be shut down today by 1 p.m. or else the hub operator will be subject to discipline and loss of network privileges, according to a posting on the hub operator’s blog.

The operator was contacted by OIT officials Monday and met with them Tuesday to discuss shutting down the hub if the file sharing could not be proven to be legal, the blog posting said.

Phyllis Dickerson Johnson, the Office of Information Technology spokeswoman, declined to confirm whether OIT had ordered the hub shutdown. She also declined to answer questions about how OIT would handle file-sharing hubs in the future. When asked how OIT was able to detect file-sharing hubs, she said, “We read about them in The Diamondback,” and began laughing.

Although the self-described DC++ hub operator has posted several messages on his blog blaming The Diamondback for the hub’s shutdown, OIT has not publicly said they decided to force its removal from the network as a result of media coverage. They have cited, however, increasing pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America to provide access to student IP addresses and the university’s designation as one of the top-15 schools for illegal file sharing as reasons for the crackdown.

One sophomore who works for the OIT helpdesk said that he assumed the university would shut down DC++ because “it doesn’t make sense to block the other file-sharing programs but not DC++,” he said. The student declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

On Monday, OIT blocked the use of the two popular file-sharing programs LimeWire and Ares. The department has cited concern about the strain file sharing puts on network bandwidth and litigation with organizations such as the RIAA as reasons for that shutdown.

The Direct Connect hubs, however, have been for the most part left running even as stories were published about their popularity and the volume of letters threatening legal action increased. In the past, OIT only ordered hubs shut down after students complained about them, and turned a blind eye to them when they were put back on the network.

Dickerson-Johnson, the OIT spokeswoman, said that now the office is taking a more “proactive” approach. According to the DC++ operator’s blog, that includes referring students to the Office of Student Conduct, but Dickerson-Johnson again declined to confirm the assertions made on the blog.

Tammy Saunders, the assistant director of the Office of Student Conduct, offered an explanation: If a hub operator refuses to shut down a file-sharing hub, the case would be referred to student conduct. Possible penalties could include official warnings, disciplinary probation or a loss of network privileges. Saunders added, however, that the office would take a “progressive approach to discipline” when it comes to file-sharing hubs.

“We would want to educate them during this process,” she said. “Sometimes they aren’t aware of the consequences that can come from illegal file sharing.”

No hub operators have ever been referred to the student conduct office, she said.

Recent OIT actions have raised concerns among Student Government Association legislators since last Wednesday’s SGA meeting when OIT announced they would be shutting down most file-sharing on the campus, said Matt Verghese, an engineering legislator.

“OIT said that it would be very easy for the RIAA to hire a student to get into DC++ and find people sharing on the network,” he said.

The announcement, along with Verghese’s friend receiving a pre-litigation letter from the RIAA, prompted Verghese to sponsor a bill encouraging the university to take a “harder stance” against the RIAA and not forward pre-litigation letters to students.

The RIAA has taken a policy of targeting university students in litigation, and encouraging universities to crack down on illegal file sharing. In May, Congress sent a letter to 19 universities, not including this one, asking for cooperation in cracking down on illegal file sharing.

newsdesk@umd.edu