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  Monitor Potential Abuses
  Of Copyright Law

It's a full-time job trying to police employees so they don't visit non-business Web sites or send offensive e-mails. Now, there's a new legal worry: ensuring that your employees don't download or store material in violation of federal copyright laws.

And it's a common practice. One Illinois university fired a secretary for violating the school's policy banning the personal use of its equipment after finding she had stockpiled nearly 2,000 MP3 music files on her office computer. Computer technicians discovered the music collection after the secretary's computer froze.

But there's a larger problem, legal experts say. Your company faces potential liability for not prohibiting employees from downloading and keeping copyrighted material that may have been pirated.

For example, the Recording Industry Association of America reached a $1 million settlement with an Arizona technology consulting firm that allegedly allowed employees to trade copyrighted MP3 files over a dedicated server. And the RIAA continues to file lawsuits in its continuing crackdown on copyright infringements.

Here are four tips to help protect your business:

1. Compose a clear, written policy. Include the policy in your employee manual and distribute a copy to all employees. It's a good idea to have staff members sign an agreement acknowledging that they understand the rules. Get professional help drafting your policy to ensure you meet all legal requirements. Having a well-known policy can alleviate some of the resentment your staff might feel about being monitored. Make sure employees realize that what they do on company equipment is not private and that hitting the "delete" button does not mean that data is erased.

2. Include a clause about copyrights. Ban the unauthorized download, storage and distribution of copyrighted material.

3. Install monitoring software. Many companies install programs on their networks that keep an electronic eye on employees. There are many to choose from. Some block access to pornographic, entertainment and other sites. Others monitor and prevent game playing, scan e-mail traffic, block access to unauthorized URLs, or protect trade secrets from being transferred by inside snitches.

4. Review your policy regularly. Much of the attention in online abuse so far has focused on employees viewing pornography, playing games and forwarding explicit jokes via e-mail. But the legal issues are evolving and the three-sentence policy you instituted a few years ago may no longer work.


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