Campus computing officials and movie-industry executives will be paying close attention tomorrow when the House of Representatives education committee considers a 747-page bill that would set federal higher-education policy for the next five years.
The bill takes aim at Internet piracy on college campuses, directing institutions to “develop a plan” for offering alternatives to illegal downloading as well as a plan to “explore technology-based deterrents.” The measure would also authorize grants to colleges to develop programs aimed at reducing or eliminating the illegal distribution of intellectual property. (The Senate passed its version of the legislation, which included softer language on file sharing, this summer.)
The Motion Picture Association of America, which has lobbied Congress to take action against campus piracy, praised the bill, but an official of Educause, the higher-education technology consortium, called the antipiracy legislation “unacceptable” and “the first step to a mandate.” Read the complete Chronicle story.
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