A key U.S. senator is planning to introduce a controversial amendment to the Higher Education Act intended to put an end to illegal file sharing on college campuses — and putting some colleges on the spot to do so.
The Senate is scheduled to begin debate today on long-awaited legislation to reauthorize, or renew, the Higher Education Act. Sen. Harry M. Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the Senate majority leader, is expected to propose an amendment that would require many of the largest colleges to use technology designed to prevent students from illegally downloading and swapping music and movie files. But the technology to prevent piracy may not even work and could cost universities hundreds of thousands of dollars, critics say.
