Previous |
Next |
October 08, 2007, 04:36 PM ET
A Controversial Antipiracy Measure Makes a Comeback
Even after they fended off a Senate proposal that would have forced some colleges to buy antipiracy tools, many campus officials 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. Late last week, 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. The measure is very similar to the Senate proposal, made in July by Sen. Harry M. Reid, a Nevada Democrat and Senate majority leader, as an amendment to the renewal of the Higher Education Act.
Like Mr. Reid’s 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 devise “a plan for implementing a technology-based deterrent” to illegal file swapping.
Mr. Reid’s amendment was deeply unpopular with college officials and advocacy groups, and the new proposal already faces staunch opposition from Educause, the higher-education technology consortium. On Saturday, 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.
A set of “talking points” published by Educause highlights the group’s objections. The talking points argue that the measure makes the education secretary “an agent of the entertainment industry,” and they go on to say that noncompliant colleges may have their federal student-aid funds stripped.
Many higher-education officials expressed the same concerns about Mr. Reid’s amendment. But that measure’s strongest supporters, the members of the Motion Picture Association of America, have said the amendment did not put financial-aid funds on the line. “I think there was a bit of an overreaction by some in the higher-education community,” said Daniel R. Glickman, president of the MPAA, in an interview with The Chronicle. “Nobody’s taking away student loans.” —Brock Read
Categories: Campus-Piracy, Legal-Troubles
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.