P2P Bill Could Make Legal File Sharing Alternatives Obligatory on Campuses
New bill would require schools to offer students legal file-sharing alternatives.
The College Opportunity and Affordability Act has come with a proposal with respect to new standards in colleges, and included a requirement that schools ensure a legal form of p2p file-sharing. This new bill recently passed through the U.S. House of Representatives.
This measure was somehow the result of the fact that although , at this moment WSU forbids the use of p2p file sharing applications on campus (no LimeWire, Morpheus or other alike allowed), the university does not provide any legal alternative.
"We've talked about some different options as far as providing some free downloads to students, but nothing is in place yet," said Steve Gill, a WSU Information Technology security consultant.
As the WSU Web site reads, the university is liable for copyright infringement when students are caught sharing unauthorized content via the Internet. The record industry is desperately trying to recuperate lost profits and is thus continually sending copyright infringement demands to universities across the country.
In case a student is caught illegally swapping files, Internet access is suspended and the student is referred to the Office of Student Conduct. The offender is then forced to delete all illegal material from his or her machine, complete an online or classroom course on copyright and pass a quiz following the course.
Currently the bill awaits for the president’s signature.
To learn more about WSU’s IT policy violation rules, go to infotech.wsu.edu.
