“CopySense Express” Warns File-Sharing Students on the Spot

• Written by Jared Moya

Audible Magic introduces new service that “leverages the teachable moment” when a student is caught illegally sharing copyrighted files by instantly warning them that their actions have been detected.

I’m not sure any college students would want to hassle with the headache of file-sharing on a campus network these days, but for those that do beware, the Audible Magic Corporation has new trick up its sleeves.

Today it announced that it’s expanded its CopySense family of P2P compliance and educational “solutions” with a new service specifically aimed at community colleges and other institutions with smaller networks and limited IT budgets.

The CopySense Express service detects illegal file-sharing of copyrighted material as it occurs and immediately informs the student that the unauthorized use of the network has been detected, “leveraging the teachable moment” it says.

It offers the service as a low cost option to comply with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requiring colleges and universities to fight illegal file-sharing on campus.

“Compliance with the HEOA is mandatory for colleges and universities by July 1, 2010,” says Vance Ikezoye, founder and CEO of Audible Magic. “Yet shrinking budgets have severely limited the ability of many of these institutions to respond with new compliance tools. Affordability is key. Our new CopySense Express service provides a low cost alternative for HEOA compliance upon which colleges and universities can build as their budgets increase.”

Audible Magic says the service is designed for colleges and universities with network bandwidths of 50 mbps or less, and that this “plug and play” service can be up and running in most cases in less than 30 minutes.

I know if I was greeted with an instant warning I’d take my file-sharing to another network, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com