In what's been called one of the most public rebukes to peer-to-peer online file swappingh, 85 U.S. Naval Academy students have been disciplined for P2Ping against the Academy's honor code.
None of the 85 were suspended or expelled, according to Business Week, but it's seen as a continuing crackdown on unlawful computer use at American military service academies.
The Naval Academy had confiscated student computers in 2002 in a previous P2P crackdown. And spokesman Commander Bill Spann told Business Week this week's disciplinary action was about holding future combat leadership accountable for their actions.
"This was an important lesson to learn, particularly given their age, and that they were told on numerous occasions that this was an inappropriate use of government resources," Spann said.
Last November, the Academy began probing campus P2Ping and seized computers that belonged to 92 students, Business Week said, but seven of the students avoided disciplinary action. The disciplinary measures the 85 downloaders face range from demerits and loss of leave time to extra duty and other campus restrictions, Spann told the magazine.
