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| Democrats: Colleges must police copyright, or else By Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: November 9, 2007, 5:41 PM PST New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students. The U.S. House of Representatives bill (PDF), which was introduced late Friday by top Democratic politicians, could give the movie and music industries a new revenue stream by pressuring schools into signing up for monthly subscription services such as Ruckus and Napster. Ruckus is advertising-supported, and Napster charges a monthly fee per student. |
This is absurd. Punishing the universities because students are using their bandwidth is akin to punishing the cable company because a subscriber records a pay-for-view movie then shares it with their friends. Or holding the internet provider responsible for pirated software. Or the federal government at fault for speeders on freeways.
And exactly how does withholding education address this problem?
It is appalling the short-sighted avenues that the music and film industries are using to address this problem. Instead of attempting to create even harsher penalties, many of which affect far more than the guilty parties, the industries should embrace the p2p models and figure ways to use these new technologies to their advantage. The sharing of music and film will not go away. Get use to it.
Mood: Shocked ]
