In late July, college officials lobbied successfully to defeat a U.S. Senate proposal that would have forced some institutions to buy computer tools to detect student music and video piracy. But the administrators were in no mood to celebrate: It was only a matter of time, they said, before the House of Representatives brought up a similar measure.
They were right. Several days ago, two Republican representatives—Rep. Ric Keller, of Florida, and Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, of California—introduced their own proposal intended to combat music and movie piracy on campus computer networks, one that campus officials feared would penalize noncompliant colleges with the loss of federal student aid. The language is tucked away in the innocuously named College Access and Opportunity Act of 2007 (HR 3746), a measure that would amend and extend the Higher Education Act.
The language chosen by Mr. Keller and Mr. McKeon is very similar to that of the Senate proposal, made by Sen. Harry M. Reid, a Nevada Democrat and Senate majority leader, as an amendment to a bill to renew the act (S 1642). Like Mr. Reid's failed amendment, the House proposal calls on the U.S. secretary of education to identify the 25 institutions that received the most notices identifying cases of copyright infringement of both music and movies. The colleges appearing on those lists would then be required to review their antipiracy strategies and to devise "a plan for implementing a technology-based deterrent" to illegal file swapping.
The last requirement is particularly unpopular among college administrators and among advocacy groups like Educause, the higher-education technology consortium. Shortly after the proposal was announced, Mark A. Luker, a vice president of Educause, sent an "urgent call to action" to many campus officials, encouraging them to call Mr. Keller and Mr. McKeon to express concern about the measure.
In a set of "talking points" published on its Web site, Educause argues that the House amendment could strip federal student-aid funds from colleges that fail to purchase those tools. That's because the new measure places antipiracy actions among steps colleges must take to be eligible for federal financial aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, says Wendy Wigen, a government relations officer for the technology group.
But officials with the Motion Picture Association of America a group that strongly supported Mr. Reid's Senate amendment, have said that measure did not put financial-aid funds on the line. And Alexa Marrero, a spokesperson for Republican members of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the House proposal makes "no direct link" between its antipiracy mandates and Title IV student aid.
If the new amendment passes, according to Ms. Marrero, piracy will become just one of many issues that colleges will be asked to report on in order to receive Title IV money. (Other language in HR 3746 would require colleges to document their fire-safety procedures, for example.) Some college officials agree that, based on past experience, student aid does not seem in jeopardy. Colleges have been warned by the government for failing to meet reporting requirements and for violating laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, but they have not typically had money withheld, said Tracy Mitrano, the director of information-technology policy at Cornell University.
Nevertheless, many campus officials remain uncomfortable, and some said they would oppose the amendment even if they were not worried about its student-aid implications. They may have plenty of time to fight the measure: Mr. Reid's proposal was made just days before the Senate voted to renew the Higher Education Act, but the House has no set timeline for holding its own discussion on the act.
