Representative Ric Keller (R-FL) has proposed a new bill (HR 1689) called the "Curb Illegal Downloading on College Campuses Act of 2007" that will increase federal funding for universities in order to fight p2p piracy .
The bill amends the "Higher Education Act", a bill that supplies federal money to universities and allows that money to be used for programs that reduce illegal downloading of copyrighted content.
The goal of the bill is to free up university money that would otherwise be spent on added bandwidth costs and so the universities can use the extra money on keeping campuses secure from viruses that can find their way into user's computers through p2p programs.
The bill notes the following: (1) Illegal downloading and online distribution of movies, music, software, games and other intellectual property has increased significantly on college and university campuses.
(2) Computer systems at colleges and universities are intended primarily to aid in educating and increase research capability among students and faculty. Increased illegal downloading and distribution of content through peer-to-peer networks puts great strain on these systems and imposes significant costs on universities.
(3) Additional staff and resources are required to respond to notices of illegal downloading, costing more money.
(4) Illegal downloading and file sharing exposes campus networks to computer viruses and worms, and can put sensitive personal and proprietary information at risk.
(5) Programs can be developed that will stop illegal downloading while still maintaining student privacy and academic freedom.
The "Higher Education Act" allows that the extra money from federal funding can be used in certain areas such as financial aid grants generally, but the new amendment to the bill would allow the money to be used for additional areas.
Although it is not guaranteed that the bill will ever make it to a vote, it should be interesting to follow its path through Congress.
