A while back, I posted an open letter to the UF Department of Housing, which is responsible for Internet access in the dorms, about their no-sharing policy. They'll cut the connection of anyone who they think is using the BitTorrent protocol. Eventually, I decided to be brave and use it anyway because the first strike is supposed to be a 30-minute time-out from the Internet (except for ufl.edu). Not too bad.

So was I tying up the Intartubes, slurping up Hollywood's latest offerings as seen through a Sony Handycam? Of course not. I decided to be responsible from the outset. I didn't download anything that wasn't allowed to be shared, and I limited my bandwidth usage very severely. The question remained: how long would it take the Department of Housing to notice?

Answer: two months. I can only access ufl.edu from my dorm room right now, and the fix is supposed to be simple. Whenever I try to go to a non-UF page, I'm redirected to a page on Housing's site where I'm supposed to enter my user name and password. Then I have agree not to be a good neighbor or use their network responsibly. Once I do that, the time-out will begin. After 30 minutes, I'll be allowed to use the (whole) Internet again. Not too bad... right?

One problem: their site isn't recognizing my login attempts. I try to log in, I'm directed to the main UF portal that says I'm logged in, and then I go back to their site, where I'm not logged in. I've tried the obvious things like deleting cookies and logging in repeatedly. Another problem: their office just closed for the day. Another problem: I won't be at my dorm very much during their hours tomorrow. So I'm here posting from an undisclosed location.

I have plenty of words I'd like to say to the Department of Housing, most of them very short, but I'd like to claim the moral high ground here. That's why I'm giving you a chance to have some informative videos that my university doesn't want me to share with you. (There were a few other files, but I was the only person seeding them.)

• Lawrence Lessig Keynote. A lecture given by the creator of Creative Commons in his distinctive style on June 10, 2006. Ogg Theora video, 238.7 MB, CC BY-NC-SA.
• Make - Episode 106. The 6th episode of a new show based on Make Magazine. QuickTime video, 982.2 MB, CC BY-NC-SA.
• President Obama's Weekly Address of January 31, 2009. The President's second weekly video address to the nation. MP4 video, 48.5 MB, public domain.

Enjoy!