Add-ons diminish bill’s benefits
It is a well-known fact that very few, if any, politicians in Congress read each and every bill from beginning to end.
If you didn’t already know this, you do now, and you should be outraged at the recent renewal of the Higher Education Act this newspaper’s editorial board praised (“Congress rightfully prioritizes education,” Aug. 4).
Why?
Because tucked away in this bill is a provision that betrays colleges and students across the nation to the thugs of the MPAA and RIAA. This provision forces colleges that wish to receive federal funding to take aggressive measures to police their online networks for copyrighted content. It would also create a “blacklist,” comprised of MPAA and RIAA accusations (and we all know how honest they are), of the top 25 file-sharing schools in the nation; these schools would be subject to sanctions for not policing their networks for copyrighted content.
Distributing copyrighted works without the owner’s permission is illegal, so you might be tempted to ask, “What’s so wrong with this bill?” I can answer: It forces universities to become “copyright cops” and actively monitor their students’ Internet habits. Let me repeat: It forces a university to monitor traffic on its network, and if the software your school is using determines you’re file sharing, you can end up in big trouble.
What’s worse is that this software can generate false positives, so sharing torrent files of your favorite indie band’s non-copyrighted works looks exactly like sharing the latest Coldplay album. You could end up in trouble without doing anything illegal. You can thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for this thoughtful amendment, bought and paid for by the music and movie industries and their lobbyists.
This is yet another example of ridiculous provisions slipped into a must-pass bill to satisfy lobbyists. I am disgusted with Congress and my representatives for letting this happen, and I have made sure to let them know my opinion. While the remainder of the bill has put in place some much-needed reforms, they are tainted by provisions forcing schools to track every Internet move their students make.
To all of my fellow students who are going to be living in the dorms next year, remember: Big Brother is watching.
Andrew Boggeri
Third-year, aerospace engineering