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Senate Passes Bill Targeting College Piracy

An anonymous reader brings news that the College Opportunity and Affordability Act has passed in the US Senate and now awaits only the President's signature before becoming law. Hidden away in the lengthy bill are sections which tie college funding to "offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity." The EFF issued a statement expressing concern over the bill earlier this year, shortly before the House of Representatives approved it. We discussed the introduction of the bill last November. The Senate vote was 83-8, with 9 not voting. The full text of the bill is available. The relevant section is 494, at the end of the general provisions.

157 comments

  1. Sounds like a good bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    College piracy really is getting out of hand these days. I just graduate college recently, and it's ridiculous how easy and casual it is.

    Copyright infringement is illegal and costs companies money. As a legitimate consumer, I feel duped when others are trading around something I paid good money far.

    I'm all in favor of trying to prevent and deter this unlawful activity.

    1. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Celarnor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So the solution is to pass on the cost to everyone else rather than deal with the problematic element until the copyright system can be fixed?

    2. Re:Sounds like a good bill by mikael · · Score: 3, Funny

      On a department UNIX system, just look in each users home directory for the file:

      ".windows_settings/My Documents/My Music"

      Those Windows auto-rippers will put everything there for everyone else to download...

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    3. Re:Sounds like a good bill by gerf · · Score: 2, Informative

      When my brother was in college (late '80s), BMG would run the "12 CDs for the price of 1" deal constantly across college campuses (plus 3 more for signing up someone else). They knew that the kids didn't have the money to pay full price, and that they could start them using their CD distribution model for the rest of their lives. Even for a college kid, CDs for less than $2 each is bearable. I doubt however that in this day and age they'd want to bother with lugging 100 plastic discs around, but that's not the issue anyway.

      I'm a more recent collegiate, and still visit friends on campus on occasion. I have never EVER seen those deals advertised on campus, even before Napster came out while I was in the dorms.

      I'd like to say they've given up on the market, but then their constant suing doesn't make sense. It's truly a mystery to me what they're thinking.

    4. Re:Sounds like a good bill by QuantumRiff · · Score: 1

      I work for a small community college, about 800 Full time students, a couple thousand part time. We have open wireless, and computers all over that students can use. I have had a problem with maybe 5-8 of them using limewire or bittorrent and swamping our connection. (we're more worried about connection use, the content is their issue.) Most of them have stopped when we ask them too. A few of them were explaining that they were trying to DL Linux ISO's, so we pointed them to a mirror that is at another school, that does not count towards our bandwidth limits (and they're on a 100MB network with us, its fast).

      Now, it appears that I am going to have to pay thousands of dollars a term to subscribe them all to a music download service, which will punish the 98%-99% of students who are good, because a few might have downloaded music. We charge $3/credit for "tech" fees, and that just went up, it was $2/credit. That is going to swallow a huge portion of our budget for things like replacing student labs.

      Your school might have a rampant problem, mine doesn't. Its going to hurt the students, because we will have to either raise tuition or fees, or put equipment on a longer replacement cycle to pay for something that we don't need.

      --

      What are we going to do tonight Brain?
    5. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Annymouse+Cowherd · · Score: 1

      Limit bandwidth for any given connection to about the speed of a US cable carrier- 4000kbit down, 500kbit up. Then your network won't be swamped and people using P2P legitimately can still download, though only at the same speeds they would get at home.

    6. Re:Sounds like a good bill by berashith · · Score: 1

      that is fine , but are you willing to force colleges to become the police?

    7. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

      Have you looked in to Ruckus. It's DRM'ed and only runs on windows media player, but it's free for students with an .edu email account if the school signs up for it. Our technet at Kutztown University, Pennsylvania, has a huge banner on their home page saying something to the effect of "stop infesting the campus with your MP3s from torrents, we've signed you up for free music from this service". It seems to be working somewhat. Basically, Ruckus puts a skin on WMP and shows little adds in the bottom of the player, and that ad revenue supports all the music you can download.

      Their network is always fast, and I think that if you setup some kind of caching server, you can cut down on bandwidth as music is mostly 'trendy' in the way that youTube links are; someone finds something and tells everyone else to check it out, and then you've got your pipe saturated with fifty copies of the same media.

      At any rate, while I don't like DRM, it is a solution that at least gives you the ability to cut down on traffic externally, and internally (from infected machines reinfecting each other - I've seen the network room, most of the rack is lit up like a Christmas tree, solid green, even with hardware shapers and balancers over multiple backbones. They've even got IR on the roof as a failover... it's nuts what morons will do to your network, even when they've got $100,000 of hardware protecting them at the edge).

      Ruckus is worth looking in to, IMHO, even if to compare what's on the market or solidify your choice for something else.

      --

      If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

    8. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Dan541 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Im a tax payer and I feel duped having my tax dollars go to private corporations.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    9. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Dan541 · · Score: 0

      Abolish copyright laws then all this crap can stop.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    10. Re:Sounds like a good bill by stanjam · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Abolish copyright laws? Then what is the motivation to create works? If money can no longer be made from the production of works, why do it? It costs money to bring this stuff to you, but no money would be coming in because there is no way to protect that work? The author of a book should have the right to sell that work and make profit from it every bit as much as a local smith should have the right to sell his goods at a profit. Abandoning copyright laws is not the answer. In fact, that would lead to stagnation. The sharing of ideas and information would dry up, because there is no protection for that work.

      --
      Open Source: Eroding the Digital Divide
    11. Re:Sounds like a good bill by grolaw · · Score: 1

      I just graduate college recently....

      Well, you failed simple English subject-verb agreement in the quote. Perhaps you are a plant from the RIAA?

    12. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Dan541 · · Score: 0

      The sharing of ideas and information would dry up, because there is no protection for that work.

      Copyright holds back innovation and prevents the spread of knowledge and ideas.

      Open Source provides a good example of how well colaberative contribution works. Without copyright we are all free to trade and share information and ideas.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    13. Re:Sounds like a good bill by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      ..."infesting from torrents"? I'd be more worried about the bullshit that they do to the DRM. Those schemes have had a much worse track record than any media I have ever downloaded via bittorrent. Not to mention it locks me out because I don't use Windows, and requires the university to take part. Sounds limiting and stupid to me.

      Besides, looking at their site, their most played list contains 7 Coldplay songs, of 9 total. It looks like most of their music is not A-list, so it's not going to be useful for what most people want. I'll place my bets on them imploding within 2 years. They won't survive without a better library, or government intervention.

    14. Re:Sounds like a good bill by stanjam · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree that open source is a shining example of how things CAN work. However I also think that people should have the right to NOT share openly, and choose to charge for their work. I am a BIG proponent of open source and open source technologies. I also think that there is room for both open source and closed source in this world. In fact, when it comes to some things, I think that forcing all work to be open source would dry up a lot of productive ideas and works. Many authors would refuse to share their works. Many people would not share their ideas if they could not profit from them directly. Open Source is great, but there MUST be room for both if we want the most progress. Granted, this is my opinion, but I think it is realistic.

      --
      Open Source: Eroding the Digital Divide
    15. Re:Sounds like a good bill by MJMullinII · · Score: 1

      College piracy really is getting out of hand these days. I just graduate college recently, and it's ridiculous how easy and casual it is.

      Copyright infringement is illegal and costs companies money. As a legitimate consumer, I feel duped when others are trading around something I paid good money far.

      I'm all in favor of trying to prevent and deter this unlawful activity.

      By chance, it wouldn't have been Law School you just graduated from would it?

      --
      "Don't be a martyr -- BE THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY!"
    16. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Open Source provides a good example of how well colaberative contribution works.

      So everything that's not extremely mainstream will be worse than today? I don't mind the copyright if it means I'll have access to something other than American Idol.

    17. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      College piracy really is getting out of hand these days. I just graduate college recently, and it's ridiculous how easy and casual it is.

      Copyright infringement is illegal and costs companies money. As a legitimate consumer, I feel duped when others are trading around something I paid good money far.

      I'm all in favor of trying to prevent and deter this unlawful activity.

      Thanks for chiming in, RI/MPAA shill. Next time will you include links to the copyright ferret website? Or maybe share with us the theory of how college piracy is a gateway to opium dens and cathouses?

    18. Re:Sounds like a good bill by Dan541 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can't really disagree with you because you have a good/valid point.

      Where I mostly have a problem is when the existence of copyright affects my freedom. Bandwidth throttling is a good example, because ISPs use piracy as an excuse to commit fraud and my government are spending my money to fight piracy instead of punishing rapists, murderers and fixing hospitals and roads.

      As a Tax payer I object to any government involvement regarding piracy and believe that the government should serve in the interest of it people and fight ISPs who violate their users privacy to aid corporations.

      So my problem is not so much the artist trying to make an honest buck for their work, its the people who try to screw me over in the name of copyright.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  2. Hostile partnerships? by DigitAl56K · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hidden away in the lengthy bill are sections which tie college funding to "offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity."

    I haven't read the bill yet, but that sounds like an attempt to force colleges into hostile partnerships with MPAA/RIAA agencies/affiliates. If that is the case, then I urge the colleges to satisfy the requirement of "offering alternatives" by partnering exclusively with indie, creative-commons, and public domain distributors.

    BTW - why in the world do colleges need to be involved in "offering alternatives" when there are dozens of well known websites already offering alternatives. iTunes anyone? Rhapsody? eMusic? If people aren't using these already what makes anyone thing that a college offering the same will suddenly be more successful? It is no business of a college, which people pay to attend, to be factoring into their cost model marketing and/or service costs of music/movie distribution.

    1. Re:Hostile partnerships? by DigitAl56K · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sorry to reply to myself, but I wanted to add one other point:

      "offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property

      Specifically relating to movies, what alternatives is a college to offer for zero-day releases, screeners, and so forth? I'd love to know what the MPAA has up its sleeve there..

    2. Re:Hostile partnerships? by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 1

      It's come up before, and it will continue to come up - people just don't like paying the money. Does the RIAA or even the Senate seriously believe that Ohio University is going to offer a better music catalog or design or ease of use than Apple? There's no way, nobody can be that dumb. The music/movie execs are glad to get a win, even if it's pointless, because now it's on the books with overwhelming support, and is a small step forward for them. (I can see the headline now - "Senate Approves Anti-Piracy Act 83-8") The Senators get to sleep easily at night, knowing they helped keep America from advancing forward, assuming they actually read the entirety of the bill.

      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    3. Re:Hostile partnerships? by ron+sepun · · Score: 1

      Actually, I'm pretty sure they mean alternatives for free downloads. For example, I know the college I attended recently started using a system called Ruckus. It let you download free music to your computer, with a surprising selection, as long as you were a college student (you sign in with your college e-mail address/password).

      Unfortunately, it was DRM ridden crap. Which some people found was quite easy to remove.

    4. Re:Hostile partnerships? by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

      I propose that anytime somebody splits an Informative, Insightful, or Interesting comment into two pieces, we mod the second one to hell using "Overrated". Since the poster is getting +10 instead of +5, that is probably the only case in which we might actually be able to objectively say a post has been Overrated.

      That being said, I think as part of the requirement to offer an alternative to the illegal download, there should be a requirement to actually produce an equitable alternative. If no alternative exists, the original requirement cannot be fulfilled and should be nullified. I'm thinking in particular about reality shows, in which the actual series may never be released on DVD in its entirety. How can a person be sued for causing a loss of sales on something that has never been sold?

    5. Re:Hostile partnerships? by Renraku · · Score: 1

      Its more like:

      "Hey Mr. Public School, if you don't implement this plan, then we'll cut your funding. This will mean your rates must skyrocket to cover the difference as well as inflation, and that you'll lose tons of students. So we suggest you go ahead and make some deals. And for every student you don't turn in, someone on campus gets their kneecaps broken."

      --
      Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
    6. Re:Hostile partnerships? by TheoMurpse · · Score: 1

      The University of Texas has free screenings of movies in their student union's movie theater every Wednesday (first run) and Thursday (non-first run).

      I saw all three Lord of the Rings films there, two on first run (Wednesdays) and one on a Thursday inght after I'd seen it in a regular theater before going to college a year earlier.

      I also saw A Mighty Wind for free on first run there. I also saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl on first run there.

      I'm not saying that this is feasible for all unis. However, I'm just trying to show that there are options that compete with screeners (in fact, I saw some of these movies before screeners were available).

  3. I always know when I'm in a college town ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    because many of the local merchants will have a sign in their doorway that says something like this:

    "Everyone MUST check their bags and backpacks at the front!!"

    Most college kids are thieves. I wasn't but I got blamed for a theft when I was in school and of course, no one believed me when I told them what happened.

    I hope that son of a bitch got his.

    Oh yeah, copyright infringement is theft!

    1. Re:I always know when I'm in a college town ... by DigitAl56K · · Score: 1

      Except that GPL authors are more often than not uninterested in making a buck from their projects, at least directly. They only ask that if your code benefits from theirs you agree contribute it back under a similar license.

      Musicians want to eat, too, but FUCK THEM! If they want to make a buck then they should go out and tour or something.

      And if GPL authors want to eat they should sell training and support. And they do.

      BTW - I don't wholeheartedly disagree with your overall point, but the analogy is bad.

    2. Re:I always know when I'm in a college town ... by Celarnor · · Score: 1

      I don't have any problem with musicians getting a few bucks for their work. I can do that through eMusic, to which I have a subscription that I enjoy very much.

      Unfortunately, that isn't what happens with the RIAA, etc. What happens is that the distributors grease their pockets with above 90% of the profits, taking steps to prevent the consumer from using the product they've purchased how they want (on multiple devices, etc), and even installing rootkits with music cds.

      With no market selling a safe, usable product, what do you expect people to do?

    3. Re:I always know when I'm in a college town ... by TehZorroness · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree, except I'm speaking honestly. Fuck musicians. If they want to eat, make them work like everyone else. They shouldn't be entitled to free income for the rest of their life + 75 years for writing one song.

      On the GPL comment. People deliberately breaching the GPL are generally software companies that would be very quick to point out that you are pirating their stuff. They have to play by the rules if they expect us to.

    4. Re:I always know when I'm in a college town ... by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sigh.....I know you are probably a troll and I shouldn't feed the troll,but what the hell,this argument always stuck in my craw.

      1. If you actually believe it is about musicians,I got some really nice swampland in AR to sell you,99% gator free! They rip off the bands something fierce, for example: Meatloaf had to sue for nearly 20 years because "Bat out of Hell I",which is STILL on the top 200,BTW,according to the record companies never made any money. They even have a "special" term for this,which is how widespread it is. It is called Hollywood Accounting.

      2. The whole POINT of copyright was to grant a LIMITED monopoly in return for the enrichment of the people at the end of the term with a better and richer Public Domain which all of us,artists and laymen alike,could use to create new works and enrich our lives. So lets go download all that great '50s and 60's music from the Public Domain website now! Oh,wait,we can't,can we? Because thanks to the lobbyists buying off our corrupt politicians our great great grandkids will be dead before anything ever sees the Public Domain again,if ever. You see,THEY broke the contract with their greed,not We The People.

      3. And finally,do you think you are honest? Do you have an MP3 player? Ever put your own store bought cd on it? Then according to RIAA you are a filthy pirate. Welcome to the club,coffee and donuts are on the table in the back. The simple facts are this: The old model doesn't work.Instead of coming up with new models that WILL work in a digital age,they think they can buy their way back to the old days. So while I haven't heard or seen anything worth stealing if you see something you want,I say help yourself.THEY broke the contract,we get NOTHING for enforcing their copyrights,and until we get a new contract,one in which BOTH sides actually get something out of it I say all bets are off. But as always this is my 02c,YMMV

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    5. Re:I always know when I'm in a college town ... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1

      ...They also HATE it when they are reminded how retarded the anti-copyright position is, so try to mod down pro-copyright posters so they don't get seen. Sad isn't it?

      Yeah, because calling something "retarded" is the height of rational debate. There's a reason posts that say little more than "ALL U COLLIGE STUDENTS AR THEIVES AND U KNO IT!!!" get modded down, and it's not because copyright opponents feel the cut and thrust of the counterarguments damages their own position on the matter...

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  4. I have an idea by el_munkie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Someone (I don't have the needed skills) should make a website that correlates information on campaign donations from opensecrets with voting records of public officials. This was obviously bought by IP-industry lobbyists, and I think that if the general public could see this corruption more easily it would be a lot easier to root out.

    1. Re:I have an idea by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With all due respect, I just opened the full text to see how long it'd be. I'm betting 99%+ of the senators didn't make their decision based on section 494. If you really wanted to make such a site, you should make a site over who throws these kinds of riders into the bills. As long as the laws are so huge, most senators probably ask their staff "is this a good law or not and give me the gist of it". I'm sure there's a hundred organizations like the EFF that have filed comments on pretty much every part of the bill, all of which claiming to be important. It's much more important to find out who's poisoning the laws than trying to make something out of the vote.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    2. Re:I have an idea by DigitAl56K · · Score: 1

      Voting records are one thing - is an official voting for this provision or others in the same bill? What is more interested is who adds legislation such as this to the bills?

      As for corruption being easier to root out, I doubt it. There are officials well known for supporting the RIAA/MPAA at every turn (e.g. our friend from Utah), and they really don't take too much heat for it. Then again, when the state of the country and government is as bad as it is copyright legislation is probably the last thing on peoples minds.

    3. Re:I have an idea by el_munkie · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As long as the laws are so huge, most senators probably ask their staff "is this a good law or not and give me the gist of it".

      I have no doubt this happens, but I have to wonder exactly what we pay these guys for if they can't even be bothered to read legislation.

    4. Re:I have an idea by MollyB · · Score: 2, Informative

      you should make a site over who throws these kinds of riders into the bills

      From the limited explanation of rider, it appears that the practice is widespread for the purely political expedient of passing legislation that would otherwise have no chance of passage on its own merits. From another viewpoint they can serve as a "poison pill" to kill a bill that otherwise would pass.
      I agree that it is a messy system, but we should attribute motive more to narrow self-interest and less to evil-for-the-hell-of-it.

      my $.02

    5. Re:I have an idea by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      I have no doubt this happens, but I have to wonder exactly what we pay these guys for if they can't even be bothered to read legislation.

      For the most part, we pay them to bring home the bacon.

      Citizens will forgive just about anything as long as the Federal Funds flow.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    6. Re:I have an idea by TehZorroness · · Score: 1

      As long as the laws are so huge...

      You just hit a nail on it's head. There is no reason for these laws to be so big. If it only takes a sentence or two to sum up the bill, why isn't the bill one or two sentences long? As a citizen, it would be easier to obey the laws if they were actually understandable, and much easier to pick out the bullshit.

    7. Re:I have an idea by Metasquares · · Score: 1

      That's exactly why they're so long.

    8. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone (I don't have the needed skills) should make a website

      Everything you need is at your fingertips.

    9. Re:I have an idea by Kjella · · Score: 1

      I have no doubt this happens, but I have to wonder exactly what we pay these guys for if they can't even be bothered to read legislation.

      How many of these do they get? How many hearings and meetings and comitees do they have to attend? And don't forget you're not just supposed to read this law, but also any alternative versions, know what the current law is and probably what others have said is good and bad about this law to make any kind of informed decision on the issue. And it's not like that's their only duty, they have to learn about what their constituents want, do campaigning, party politics and, according to slashdot, build their own evil empire. I think it's just natural that they have a staff, but that the staff is there to make sure the senator's politics is followed. There's not more than 24 hours a day for anyone.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    10. Re:I have an idea by CobaltBlueDW · · Score: 1

      I must agree. Whether they can manage to read all the legislation or not, THEY are responsible for THEIR vote. If a senator doesn't have operations set in place to prevent him/her from making bad votes on bills, then they aren't properly doing their job. Further more, if we, the people, can't hold our senators responsible for their votes in the senate, do we really have a democracy?..

    11. Re:I have an idea by emaname · · Score: 1

      Well said.

      And usually the people behind the perversion of our laws are lobbyists associated with some large corporation. This is why our country appears to be governed by corporate greed.

      I'd like to think that having the item veto would be a step in the right direction, but then the lobbyists would get the congress to roll over and shoot it (item veto) down again.

      --
      An effective "democracy" creates the illusion the people have a say in their government.
  5. Way to go, Congress! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ignore $4+ a gallon gasoline that's hurting average people, but pander to the the MAFIAA in order to grub for campaign contributions.

    1. Re:Way to go, Congress! by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      You must be new to government operations.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    2. Re:Way to go, Congress! by The+Iso · · Score: 1

      Actually, prices are now falling. When I drove to work this afternoon, I saw gas for $3.66 per gallon.

      --
      "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan
  6. Aaarrr! by Puffy+Director+Pants · · Score: 1

    Welcome to Pirate College Matey! Join the best fratenity! Rum Booty Booty Booty! Aaarrr! Salute our mascot, the Squawking Pirate! Keelhaul the Mizzenmast!

  7. How utterly useless by Kethinov · · Score: 1

    Nobody learns from history I guess, especially our legislators. Because the following should be obvious by now, even to them:

    technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity

    Which will fail.

    offering alternatives to illegal downloading

    Which will fail. None will be as free or convenient. Until we can get all our spiffy new digital music, digital TV, digital movies, and digital books (especially digital college textbooks for those college folk) in 100% quality with no DRM for free paid for by means of ads or some other non-consumer cost business model, then people (especially poor college students) are going to continue to resort to P2P.

    It's inevitable. P2P should be competed against. Not legislated against. Make the cheapskate college students part of your business model or go the hell out of business.

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    1. Re:How utterly useless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or convenient

      Except that most are more convenient. There aren't any ratios, caps, or anything else to keep you from getting music and shows from iTunes (just your cash). There aren't any mislabeled, mistagged, or misspelled files, and now that iTunes offers mp3s, theres no need to have 50 different plugins to handle the file format du jour. Of course, the pirates are improving their holdings as well, centralized trackers like Pirate Bay make it much easier to find anything and everything in one place, but only as long as someone's seeding. Otherwise it's back to trolling dozens of random IRC channels and DC++ hubs where servers are filtered for quality to find the one thing you wanted. Or kazaa, limewire, and other networks, hunting for the One True Copy amidst hundreds of truncated, corrupt, or just plain wrong results.

      I'd even go so far as to say they're $1 more convenient, and that's why I buy my music.

    2. Re:How utterly useless by Kethinov · · Score: 2, Informative

      Your concerns don't represent the crowd this bill is targeting. They're not deterred by the rapidly diminishing inconveniences of P2P. They find wasting that precious dollar far more inconvenient than bit torrent. This is the type of crowd that only parts with money when they have to, because the vast majority are putting themselves further and further into debt with each passing semester. A disposable income is the dream a college student's future, not a reality. In my experience, most, if denied the ability to partake without paying would simply not partake.

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    3. Re:How utterly useless by Microlith · · Score: 1

      non-consumer cost business model

      You pay for it all in the end. Either by purchasing products sold by advertisers, or by paying the creators directly.

      You simply don't want to pay for it at all, and as such you don't deserve access to it whatsoever (until the copyright expires, of course.)

    4. Re:How utterly useless by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1

      This is the type of crowd that only parts with money when they have to, because the vast majority are putting themselves further and further into debt with each passing semester. A disposable income is the dream a college student's future, not a reality. In my experience, most, if denied the ability to partake without paying would simply not partake.

      Indeed, this is what astounds me the most. I've heard people wonder over why college students are always looking for free stuff, not just online, but in Real Life. Clearly these people didn't experience the same college life I did. The life of a debt-ridden college student is best summarized by the following: "ramen, bus pass, stolen toilet paper"

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    5. Re:How utterly useless by Kethinov · · Score: 1

      You simply don't want to pay for it at all, and as such you don't deserve access to it whatsoever (until the copyright expires, of course.)

      Except that the last decade or so has demonstrated that real world doesn't work that way.

      Regardless of whether or not we all believe philosophically or ethically people should pay a consumer cost for digital content, a statistically significant fraction of the consumer base will circumvent that distribution model in order to get that content for free. This is a proven fact.

      As I said, you can either work those people into your business model, or you can get the hell out of business. Because that statistically significant fraction is growing. And all of this legislating artificial scarcity and misplaced morality will most certainly fail.

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  8. Corporatism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is just getting ridiculous...

    No company could afford to investigate and prosecute the 40% of the population that downloads copyrighted material without permission. So last week we read about ACTA, where Big Media has convinced our government to carry out investigations on its behalf to try to stop illegal downloading. So let the tax payers pay for their own investigation/prosecution!

    Being so inferior to free downloads, Big Media cannot afford to market their wares widely enough to compete. So now, they have convinced our congresspeople to force nearly every university in the country to provide free marketing for them.

    Big media and corporatism have gone too far, and will continue to fuck us over if we do not start pushing back. It will require every bit of power we legally have, and if we don't start doing something soon, we won't have enough power to fight it legally. This situation will be our own fault, of course.

     

    1. Re:Corporatism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if we don't start doing something soon, we won't have enough power to fight it legally. This situation will be our own fault, of course.

      Television/media is the real opiate of the masses. How can we expect the public to stand up and fight for themselves if they are stoned out of their minds?

      1. Sell addicting, pacifying goods
      2. Control distribution chains
      3. While populace is pacified, get government to enforce 2 for you
      4. Profit!!
      (5. Go bankrupt as the country's economy fails completely as a result of an ill-motivated work force and spurious government spending)

  9. Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Animaether · · Score: 3, Informative

    "I urge the colleges to satisfy the requirement of "offering alternatives" by partnering exclusively with indie, creative-commons, and public domain distributors."
    Which would not stop students from downloading works that the MPAA governs at the same time.

    "BTW - why in the world do colleges need to be involved in "offering alternatives" when there are dozens of well known websites already offering alternatives. iTunes anyone? Rhapsody? eMusic?"
    Because, according to the EFF themselves:
    "The recording industry is already willing to offer unlimited downloads with subscription plans for $10 to $15 per month through services such as Napster and Rhapsody. But these services have been a failure on campuses, for a number of reasons, including these: They don't work with the iPod, they cause downloaded music to "expire" after students leave the school, and they don't include all the music students want." - Fred von Lohmann, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501761.html

    "If people aren't using these already what makes anyone thing that a college offering the same will suddenly be more successful?"
    Because if they had a local library then students could access the library off of their campus, instead of having to download over the internet. They wouldn't have to worry about trojans, or whether the music file would even play on their player, etc. The aforementioned may make it seem like I think students are stupid - perhaps, because the Washington Post thinks university system administrators are stupid; some gems:
    "Unless a school using the tool has firewalls on the borders of its network designed to block unsolicited Internet traffic -- and a great many universities do not"
    "The toolkit allows an administrator to require a username and password for access to the Web server. The problem is that the person responsible for running the toolkit is never prompted to create a username and password."

    And at least Dave Taylor at the U of P agrees: "even with a firewall keeping non-university students from accessing the toolkit's Web server, any student on the network armed with the Internet address of the Web server could view all of the traffic on his or her segment of the network, said Penn's Dave Taylor."
    - http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/11/mpaa_university_toolkit_opens_1.html

    "It is no business of a college, which people pay to attend, to be factoring into their cost model marketing and/or service costs of music/movie distribution."
    Apparently it is. Quoth that EFF dude again:
    "Universities already pay blanket fees so that student a cappella groups can perform on campus, and they also pay for cable TV subscriptions and site licenses for software."

    Moreover, the EFF dude thinks that's an excellent thing to apply to music downloads as well:
    "By the same token, they could collect a reasonable amount from their students for "all you can eat" downloading." - Fred von Lohmann, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501761.html

    1. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Enleth · · Score: 1

      Apparently it is. Quoth that EFF dude again:
      "Universities already pay blanket fees so that student a cappella groups can perform on campus, [...]"

      Er, what? I'm not questioning what you said, as you're just citing, but I'm interested in an explanation. What the heck has performing on a campus to do with the university paying someone - and WHO do they pay? If the students are performing as a part of their own initiative, they can do that whereever they please, on the campus, on the top of Mt. Everest, on the lawn in front of the White House or just anywhere else except when it's explicitly forbidden by the landowner. Even if they're performing copyrighted works (doing an artistic interpretation), just in this case they can't do that for profit without obtaining the rightowner's permission. So it looks someone is extorting money from the universities...

      --
      This is Slashdot. Common sense is futile. You will be modded down.
    2. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by SpiderClan · · Score: 1

      "I urge the colleges to satisfy the requirement of "offering alternatives" by partnering exclusively with indie, creative-commons, and public domain distributors."
      Which would not stop students from downloading works that the MPAA governs at the same time.

      Why should any college care about that? They are being forced to play police for the RIAA/MPAA in order to receive funding, which isn't likely to garner feelings of sympathy for the industry that's holding them hostage.

    3. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      Even if they're performing copyrighted works (doing an artistic interpretation), just in this case they can't do that for profit without obtaining the rightowner's permission. So it looks someone is extorting money from the universities...

      Cite, please? In most jurisdictions, including the US as far as I'm aware, public performance is a protected right under copyright, and just because something is not for profit, that does not automatically qualify it as a fair use (or whatever your jurisdiction calls the equivalent exemption).

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    4. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by DeadChobi · · Score: 1

      The point at which this becomes a Bad Thing is when those of us who live off campus and/or don't do anything illegal with P2P end up footing the bill for the students who do. As long as I don't end up getting charged a blanket fee for other students' uses of the internet, I'm okay with whatever my school decides to do. But if they want to bill me a $40 fee so that they can give me access to some DRM fest of a music server which won't even support my player, they can go fuck themselves.

      --
      SRSLY.
    5. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Even if they're performing copyrighted works (doing an artistic interpretation), just in this case they can't do that for profit without obtaining the rightowner's permission. So it looks someone is extorting money from the universities...

      Cite, please? In most jurisdictions, including the US as far as I'm aware, public performance is a protected right under copyright, and just because something is not for profit, that does not automatically qualify it as a fair use (or whatever your jurisdiction calls the equivalent exemption).

      I think you missed his point. He didn't say it was legal for students to do this, but that perhaps it's not the university's job to police such things. Seriously, under what line of crazed reasoning does the university bear responsibility for three jackasses in the dorm stairwell singing "Dancing Queen"?

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    6. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      He didn't say it was legal for students to do this

      I've just reread his post, and it still reads like that's what he's saying to me!

      Seriously, under what line of crazed reasoning does the university bear responsibility for three jackasses in the dorm stairwell singing "Dancing Queen"?

      I would imagine it's not the random sing-alongs in the dorm stairwell that are covered by the licence, but rather the public performances.

      Some performance rights are normally acquired by the performers, others by the venue. I don't know the usual rules of the game in the US, but here in the UK it's normal for recorded music to be dealt with by the people playing it in public, but for venues to have a blanket licence for live performances of music under copyright given on their premises (the costs of which may be passed on to the performers to some extent in the hire costs for the venue). I'm not quite sure how things evolved to this state; presumably at some point in the past it was easiest to keep track of performances and distribute royalties appropriately or something.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    7. Re:Neither the RIAA/MPAA nor the EFF would care... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking of crazy deals, here at Purdue University, there is apparently some deal that Purdue has signed with Coca-Cola that means that only Coke products can be sold/distributed on campus. Some friends of mine in the local Intervarsity Christian Fellowship were planning a project to have a guy pass out free soda on the mall; while planning it, they were apparently told they could only give out Coke products.

  10. Alternatives? Psh by Tremegorn · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As I'm currently in the "poor college student" demographic, I feel as if I can give a little insight into what these "alternative offerings" actually end up being.

    I attend a rather well known college, and we were supposedly one of the first in the country to adopt a service that provided an 'alternative' to media piracy for students to obtain material by. This was originally provided by Napster, and for the the most part it wasn't a bad deal. At no extra cost to the students, you were able to get (mostly) DRM free music for your listening pleasure (or, it could be stripped out easily; through various methods)

    Fast Foreward to 2007 -

    As soon as my university's contract ran out for the Napster service, they picked up another service called "Ruckus" which, unlike Napster, is a dismal failure in what a digital media service should be. The catch line was "Expanded digital offerings then just music", but the reality of the situation ended up being:

    - Almost no mainstream record companies signed up with the service. Most of what was provided is from independent or self publishing labels. Not the popular music people want

    - There are 'movies' you can download with the service, but they consist almost entirely of music videos, again, of those strange bands you've never heard of. They also delete themselves after 2 days.

    - Massive, MASSIVE amounts of DRM. Everything WMA or WMP formatted, and cannot be ported to multiple devices. Files expire after x period, etc.

    The result of this means that for the student, you're back to square one, with piracy usually the most desirable option for obtaining media. It's not uncommon for underground networks to pop up, such as Dtella in such an environment, and if anything seems to further encourage such behaviour.

    1. Re:Alternatives? Psh by pimpimpim · · Score: 1

      funnily enough that "alternative content provider" is actually something suggested in one of the other replies in this thread. A very interesting effect of this law is that they stimulate the group with the most knowledge, available time, and drive, to find new ways of filesharing without getting caught. nice.

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
    2. Re:Alternatives? Psh by Vegeta99 · · Score: 1

      Go Penn State!

  11. Simple solution. by Lunarsight · · Score: 4, Informative

    Step 1:

    Go here: http://www.govtrack.us/

    Step 2:

    See if your Senator voted in favor of this bill.

    Step 3:

    Notify your Senator that you'll be voting for his opponent the next time he's up for re-election.

    On a sidenote, this is why earmarking legislation is a major problem. Corrupt legislators know they can smuggle crap that would NEVER pass in a million years, if they hide it in a bill that has otherwise good intentions. It's one of the few things drawing me to voting for McCain, since he's one of the more outspoken people about this particular practice.

    1. Re:Simple solution. by no+reason+to+be+here · · Score: 1

      One, Obama has spoken out against ear marks as well. Two, McCain is far more beholden to special interest money (i.e., lobbyist money) than Obama. Three, if we just adamantly "vote the bums out" over their votes on this issue, it might force us to vote against a legislator who has otherwise performed in a manner that we find respectable, or, conversely, voting for someone who's beliefs we don't share in order to stick it to the man (like the few handfuls of Clinton backers who vow that they will vote for McCain).

      However, I do strongly urge everyone to contact your elected officials about this, and make sure that they know how you feel, and that you will be remembering it, and that if they continue to vote against your interests, you will find other candidates to support (in the primary process, if they're in the party you would normally support).

    2. Re:Simple solution. by superslacker87 · · Score: 1

      Step 4:

      ?????

      Step 5:

      Profit!!!!

      --
      I run Ubuntu skinned to look like a Mac on a PC. Go figure.
    3. Re:Simple solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love your assumption that we are all anti-copyright nutjobs who think other peoples work should be free.
      I'll be contacting my senator to urge him to support the bill. I and others like me work in the entertainment industry and am sick of being treated as the enemy or scum for expecting our customers not to rip us off.
      Grow up kids, the world doesn't owe you free entertainment.

    4. Re:Simple solution. by STrinity · · Score: 1

      You're assuming that (A) everyone cares about this enough for it to be a defining factor in our voting decisions over other issues like FISA, TSA regulations, immigration, Supreme Court confirmations, etc, and (B) the other guy wouldn't be just as much in the pocket of the RIAA.

      --
      Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
    5. Re:Simple solution. by iamwahoo2 · · Score: 1
      The intended consequence of this legislation is to back schools into a corner and force them to buy shitty subscription services like Ruckus and pass the cost onto students and taxpayers. You support this and call other people "nutjobs"?

      Personally, I would rather not pay for schools to become music distributors.

      Good thing this legislation is practically unenforceable.

    6. Re:Simple solution. by berashith · · Score: 1

      i jumped in step before this. I wrote to my rep before this went to the floor in the house. He did respond to me , but to inform me that he had voted for the act instead of against it. He did address my concerns of the requirements of policing for funding , but in his mind ( and the minds of other constituents) the benefits of the money being made available and the continued chance at receiving higher education trumped the negatives that I had brought up.

      At least I tried...

      Now to get our damn government to address one issue at a time instead of sliding all kinds of unrelated shit into laws.

    7. Re:Simple solution. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, vote in nuke-happy endless-wars McCain.. that will show the RIAA.

    8. Re:Simple solution. by Lunarsight · · Score: 1

      Yes, vote in nuke-happy endless-wars McCain.. that will show the RIAA.

      Eh - I didn't say I was going to vote for him. I said it would be one of the few reasons I would support him.

      Whoever is elected needs to deal with the whole earmarking issue in Congress. It's completely ruining the legislative process.

      They shouldn't being smuggling crap into the fine print of a bill. It puts the legislators into the awkward position where they either have to vote in favor of the bill, and let the crap pass through, or vote against the bill, and throw out the baby with the bathwater.

      To me this transcends the whole P2P/file-sharing issue. It's a much bigger problem with corporations having their hands too much in the legislative process.

    9. Re:Simple solution. by stinerman · · Score: 1

      That assumes his opponent wouldn't have voted for it anyway.

      People do not base their votes on such trivial issues, and until a critical mass does, all you'll be doing is voting against the incumbent every two years.

      And even if your Senator voted against this bill, I can guarantee you it wasn't for the same reason you opposed it.

  12. Bad Laws by Peaker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bad laws should be enforced, even if it requires new laws.

    Bad laws that are not strictly enforced remain in power.

    Bad laws that are not enforced give enforcers too much power (whether to turn a "blind eye").

    Bad laws that are not enforced create a distrust of law in general, and lawlessness.

    Maybe once copyright is TRULY enforced on all of society, people will realize that these restrictions are simply not worth it and finally abolish copyrights.

    1. Re:Bad Laws by Antony-Kyre · · Score: 1

      What do you mean by "bad laws"? Do you mean unjust laws, or laws that happen to be a bad idea (yet, are technically justful)?

      Because, if a law happens to be unjust, it can be invalidated in a court, correct?

      If a law is bad, to not enforce the law is a slap in the face concerning the concept of the system we have. It would be better to enforce a bad law (one that is justful) than to ignore it, which breaks the system. Because the system does allow for us to change a bad law into a good law.

      So, is it the paragraph directly above that you are saying, more or less?

    2. Re:Bad Laws by teknognome · · Score: 1

      While that's good in theory, it truly sucks for the people the law gets enforced against, and they might have a different opinion about whether it should be enforced. Especially if the public takes its time in realizing it's a bad law. E.g. the war on drugs.

    3. Re:Bad Laws by AusIV · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but if you let laws be selectively enforced, they stay on the books. Then a law that nearly everyone breaks can be used to hurt a person the enforcer just doesn't like (perhaps the offender has a politically unpopular opinion).

    4. Re:Bad Laws by cliffski · · Score: 1

      oh joy. another idiot suggesting copyright should be dumped.
      Assuming for a minute you are from the USA a technologically advanced country whom each year shifts its balance of economics production more and more away from physical (thanks china!) towards IP, how exactly do you think the US economy will be once people like you have enforced a value of zero on all IP?
      Nothing would please India, China and Africa more than the west being stupid enough to dump copyright.
      Think it through for once.

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
    5. Re:Bad Laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how exactly do you think the US economy will be once people like you have enforced a value of zero on all IP?

      After a period of transition, much better.

      Imaginary property is fucking stupid, and the US deserves to tank if it continues down the path of believing in it, having abandoned all that is real and physical and tried to enforce scarcity on something infinitely copyable, non-scarce and nonrivalrous. THAT is the recipe for the economy being destroyed. After china and india are MAKING everything, just how will the US continue to enforce its imaginary property rights? China and India will laugh in its face. Already, china are the only people making essential parts for nuclear weapons.

      Copyrightists should be shot for crimes against humanity.

    6. Re:Bad Laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what if people decide it isn't worth it?

      It's the companies that are writing the policy, not the people.

    7. Re:Bad Laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anti-drug laws are truly enforced on all of society, yet no one seems to realize that the restrictions are "simply not worth it." Despite the immense and obvious failure of the War on Drugs, the majority overwhelmingly continue to support anti-drug laws.

      Conversely, the Navigation Acts existed on the books for almost a century, but were for the most part unenforced and therefore ignored by the colonists. It was only after the French and Indian War that these acts began to be enforced, at which point the colonies that later became the US rebelled less than a decade after the war.

    8. Re:Bad Laws by moortak · · Score: 1

      Drug law enforcement is far from uniform and as a result does not really support your point.

      --
      Xavier Rabourdin for president 2012
    9. Re:Bad Laws by WithLove · · Score: 1

      That's "Intellectual Property", my friend.

    10. Re:Bad Laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's "imaginary property". Intellectuals are generally smart enough to see through it. "Intellectual Property" is a propaganda term, and using it is as stupid as calling DRM "Digital Rights Management" instead of "Digital Restrictions Management".

  13. In Capatilist America by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You can tell America has been bought and paid for when the government is willing to sacrifice the next generation's education so that the copyright of big corporations is no longer infringed upon.

    1. Re:In Capatilist America by entrigant · · Score: 1

      your sig throws a 404

    2. Re:In Capatilist America by westlake · · Score: 0
      You can tell America has been bought and paid for when the government is willing to sacrifice the next generation's education so that the copyright of big corporations is no longer infringed upon.
      .

      You can tell where a student's priorities are when he values his free music fix more than funding for his school.

  14. doesn't seem so bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    from the bill
    (2) develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.

    ===
    ok... "our plan for offering alternatives to illegal downlaoding is to provide internet access so people can reach legal distributer of digital media. As a technological deterent we plan on deleting offender's accounts"

  15. Unfunded mandates are the most fun by smchris · · Score: 1

    "College Opportunity and Affordability Act"

    You gotta love the humor of conservative lobbyists. "Opportunity" to "act" to reduce the "affordability" of your "college" tuition by hiring a guy to play whack-a-mole with your P2P ports "and" write reports about it? I guess they figure people who work in the college sector already get paid too much to do too little.

     

    1. Re:Unfunded mandates are the most fun by Solandri · · Score: 1

      "College Opportunity and Affordability Act"

      You gotta love the humor of conservative lobbyists. "Opportunity" to "act" to reduce the "affordability" of your "college" tuition by hiring a guy to play whack-a-mole with your P2P ports "and" write reports about it?

      Umm, I suggest you look a little more deeply into the history of the bill and Hollywood in Congress.

      • The Hollywood music and movie industries give more money to Democrats than Republicans by a more than 2:1 margin.
      • The bill, with sec 494, was introduced and sponsored by by George Miller (D-CA) and 29 other Democrats.
      • The House version (which introduced the offensive section) passed with Democratss voting 219-0 in favor, Republicans voting 135-58 in favor.
      • The combined Sen/House version passed the House with Dems voting 234-0 in favor, Reps voting 146-49 in favor.
      • The combined Sen/House version passed the Senate with Dems voting 45-0 in favor, Reps voting 36-8 in favor.

      But since it's bad, of course it must be the product of a conservative agenda. The Democrats can do no evil, right?

  16. deterrents to prevent such illegal activity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the activity wasn't illegal in the first place, illegal activity would be prevented!

    Colleges clearly need to just start lobbying hard and heavy to make illegal downloading legal. Teach classes explaining the harm caused by corporate lobbying, and the importance of lobbying for what one believes in WITH MONEY.

    Oh... the universities' deterrents need to be "technology-based"... So use the internet to send in your lobbying money!

    If every college started doing this, it might actually work :)

  17. leading with a carrot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, our government has figured out how it can control us, even though we are supposed to be the ones controlling them.

    They take money from us via taxes, and then offer money back to those who follow their orders. If the government has all of this extra money lying around, perhaps taxes should be reduced? With a strictly progressive tax system, the money would automatically be staying with the people who the government has to "aid" in our current system.

    I guarantee that if there is ever a long lived stable democracy, this kind of shit will not be going on. If our citizens ever come out of their ambivalent haze, they will be outraged enough at the inadequacy of our system to overthrow it, quite possibly with a stick, rather than a carrot.

  18. its all about priorities by night_flyer · · Score: 1

    instead of dealing with the energy crisis, the congress and senate would rather please its RIAA/MPAA Masters

    --


    Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
    Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
    1. Re:its all about priorities by Tuoqui · · Score: 1

      Thats what the energy crisis is doing... If noone has electricity for computers then P2P will die duh...

      --
      09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
      +2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
  19. Terminology by WebSorcerer · · Score: 1
    Section 494 of the Act starts off:

    "(a) In General- Each eligible institution participating in any program under this title shall to the extent practicable-" [emphasis added]

    Note the use of 'shall' and not 'must'. I believe this means that the section is not mandatory.
    [At least this is the interpretation in government contracts, but correct me if I'm wrong.]

    Also, the term 'practicable' is open to interpretation.

  20. "plan to explore..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The wording of the bill seems to me to be deliberately vague: "a plan to explore...". My prediction is that colleges will draw up this "plan to explore" and then do nothing, or very little, to act on it because it's so much cheaper and easier, and because they don't care about illegal downloading.

    That said, it does open a path for more laws which do require a higher degree of filtering, reporting, or whatever. This could be the beginning of a series of bills each a bit more stringent than the next.

  21. Love how u.s. senators name bills by unity100 · · Score: 3, Funny

    hear that title now : "College Opportunity and Affordability Act"

    if you look at it, all the keywords are there. wow, now see : "OPPORTUNITY" a positive word. "AFFORDABILITY" another good, positive word. "COLLEGE" wow, higher education too.

    if you read it, you may be tempted to think this is something that provides opportunity, affordable college education and such. HOW can it be bad ?

    they do that all the time. check this now : Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

    examining it gives you all the necessary feelings : "digital" - wow it has to be something progressive. Millenium - oh boy, we are in 21st century yay. "copyright" -> it has "right" in it, so it has to be good. if you add the bait that is "it will provide/protect jobs" while advertising for it, you are sure to fool the public.

    but of course, for them to be fooling american public for SO long with same ploys, and successfully too, there has to be a number of preconditions, providing for the fooling. i am not sure which hold true :

    a) American people are UTTERLY stupid
    b) American people "dont care" c) American people care little, but only for selfish reasons - see "it will protect jobs". and plan very short sighted.
    d) American people are powerless
    f) All of the above
    g) Mixture from all the above in varying degrees.

    1. Re:Love how u.s. senators name bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      e) American's don't know the letters of the alphabet

    2. Re:Love how u.s. senators name bills by Solandri · · Score: 2, Funny

      hear that title now : "College Opportunity and Affordability Act"

      They even tipped their hat to the groups who helped draft it, and made sure its name ended in *AA.

    3. Re:Love how u.s. senators name bills by Dross50 · · Score: 1

      Yes, love it to. But there is another aspect to this. The government takes our money and gives it back to us if we are good little boys and girls. This is our money taken from us at literally the threat of gunpoint (don't pay your taxes, we will send men with guns to take your house or car or your person) then "given" back to us if we comply. If we scale back our government such that they consume less of us and our labors we could rein them in.

  22. you dont get it by unity100 · · Score: 1

    the 'alternative opportunities' that they are required to offer are the shit that RIAA/MPAA bosses are selling. they are basically being FORCED to sell products for those organizations. thats it.

  23. No it isn't. by an.echte.trilingue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The small business I work for provides short term student accommodation (universities here in Belgium don't have dorms like in the States, private companies or student associations organize housing). In one of our residences, 20 students in downloaded 1.2 terabytes in the month of July. The volume causes all kinds of trouble for me as the IT guy because our ISP is perpetually threatening to cut us off if we don't upgrade to $superExpensivePlanOfTheMonth. We all know here that the overwhelming majority of this traffic is p2p.

    In other words, I am very sensitive to anti-piracy arguments because I have felt the pain of dealing with it. I have toyed with the idea of putting some sort of traffic shaping technology between the students and the net or limiting their access, but ultimately I have decided to put up with the headache.

    This is why: Students need freedom to grow, even if they abuse it at times (or even most of the time). If I implement traffic shaping or limit bandwidth, that one CS student who uses bittorrent to distribute his project will be screwed out of an education, and the world might be screwed out of a really cool innovation. That one aspiring film maker won't be able to distribute the movie that will make her famous and change the world of art. Sooner or later all of those students will be paying for their own bandwidth and they will learn the lesson about how their abuse is hurting the rest of us, but never again in their lives will they have the opportunities to create and learn that they have now, and unfettered access to the net is part of that.

    I cannot imagine any kind of traffic control that will not pose these kinds of problems. If we allow schools to shape bandwidth, the quality of the education they offer will suffer. I hope that US universities stand up for what is right on this one.

    --
    weirdest thing I ever saw: scientology advertising on slashdot.
    1. Re:No it isn't. by Nazlfrag · · Score: 1

      You're spot on. Downloading and P2P are not illegal, copyright infringement is. Throttling downloads or P2P is the wrong answer.

    2. Re:No it isn't. by an.echte.trilingue · · Score: 0

      I can see a case for throttling or traffic shaping in certain environments, especially for ISPs providing domestic lines. I really have no problem with an ISP that throttles down latency tolerant traffic like bittorrent so that everybody else on the network can use latency-sensitive applications like telephony.

      Problem is, most ISPs that do this aren't straightforward about it. That is just lying.

      --
      weirdest thing I ever saw: scientology advertising on slashdot.
    3. Re:No it isn't. by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      I admire your integrity on this matter, and you're absolutely right about protecting the freedom for legitimate growth. Killing P2P because of music sharing is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

      At the same time, clearly there is a problem with illegal sharing via P2P, in that most use of P2P is surely for that purpose. That is unfair both on you as the sysadmin and on those students who do want to use the service legitimately but may find the available bandwidth limited because of what others are using it for. Both of these apply regardless of your perspective on the ethics of breaking copyright law (which I personally don't agree with either, but I recognise that there are plenty of people on Slashdot who disagree).

      Perhaps it would suffice to send a polite but unambiguous message to your users reminding them that illegal file sharing is not a valid use of the resources you provide for students and warning that abusers will be disconnected? That seems perfectly fair, you could use a proportionate scale of responses (e.g., disconnection for a couple of days for a first offence, up to permanent disconnection for repeat offenders), and as long as it's not automatic and a real person is available to sort out any problems quickly (e.g., if someone does get disconnected but can later demonstrate that they need access for legitimate purposes) it seems unlikely to do any serious damage to anyone.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    4. Re:No it isn't. by DerekLyons · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      That has to be among the biggest loads of self justifying crap I've ever read.

    5. Re:No it isn't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think your missing the worst part: they want to use money taken out of your budget to appease the *AA.

    6. Re:No it isn't. by Acapulco · · Score: 1
      From your post, it seems that you don't charge Internet access to residents, or maybe you are charging too little money.

      Wouldn't it be better if you guys charged heavier on the heaviest users?. That way, you might be able to upgrade to $superExpensivePlanOfTheMonth, and then the headaches would go away.

      You say it yourself:

      Sooner or later all of those students will be paying for their own bandwidth and they will learn the lesson about how their abuse is hurting the rest of us...

      Maybe that should be sooner instead of later for the people living there.
      Just a honest suggestion. No sarcasm at all.

      --
      Slashdot. Unreadable news to annoy nerds. - wonkey_monkey
    7. Re:No it isn't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1.2TB of traffic in a month for 20 people? Your ISP thinks that kind of bandwidth usage is a problem? That comes out to about 23 KB/s per person. You can easily hit those values with a few active users playing games or watching videos without ever touching p2p. If an ISP can't handle that amount of traffic on their network, then they need to upgrade their network.

      How can you sell "high-speed" connections when you punish or threaten your users for using what equates to little more than dialup speeds? Pathetic.

    8. Re:No it isn't. by Uniquitous · · Score: 1

      Do you ever wonder if that "one guy" might need to take the hit for the good of all? Or perhaps find another way to share their brilliance?

    9. Re:No it isn't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Downloading and P2P are not illegal, copyright infringement is.

      And even then, copyright infringement is only illegal, it's not actually wrong.

      Copyright is theft. If you don't want something copied, don't fucking release it in the first place.

    10. Re:No it isn't. by talcite · · Score: 1

      You can easily hit those values with a few active users playing games or watching videos without ever touching p2p.

      23KB/s is 24x7 usage for 20 people. Do you play games all day and night for a month at a time? =D

    11. Re:No it isn't. by DirePickle · · Score: 1

      Assume each of the 20 people plays/surfs only 2-3 hours a day, and you'll average two or so people playing at a time, 24/7.

  24. hey by unity100 · · Score: 1

    why anonymous ?

    a lot of people here have the balls to defend ideas that are against overreaching patent/copyright malpractice and mishaps, even at times at the cost of getting sued.

    but you dont have the balls to post something with your own username, despite it is certain that noone is going to sue you, bash you in the head or steal your panties ?

    and,

    why so serious ?

  25. This is just the beginning by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    It's going to get a lot worse. Soon even your personal life will be invaded:

    Want that home loan? Well you have to agree to be monitored. Want that job? Better not be on any IP 'watched list' ( much as bad credit can ruin you now )

    Random street searches " we see you have an ipod, that is grounds for search. Do you have your licenses for every song on here in your possession?"

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  26. bud, were you living in mars ? by unity100 · · Score: 1

    musicians dont get ZIT out of the records they sell. the amount per cd/song they get is SO pathetic that it is negligible. the record companies force them to go on concert tours to earn the millions they are earning. this is a self reinforcing slavery cycle. even if you're a top band, your record earns the record co countless millions, but you are forced to go over lengthy concerts in which you will at most accrue $1-2 m after going through countless countries and 5 to 10 concerts.

    excuse me, but musicians arent getting shit out of this deal, and im not going to pay a record company $20 bucks an album, whereas the musician gets only a few cents out of it.

    it doesnt make sense.

    previously it was hard to distribute a creative material. you had to record it to tapes distribute to stores, advertise it, sell it. now there is internet. now there are cds that cost 0.01 per. storage and distribution is much easier. (compare the space that is required by a casette tape to a cd and how much you can squeeze into a transport). the cost of distribution have taken a dive, and profit margins rose. but we are STILL paying same bucks per album like 20 years ago. WHAT is the deal here ?

    let me tell you the deal. record companies are making huge profit margins now distribution costs are down, and they are enjoying it TOO much that they are resorting to malpractice, racketeering, bribery and public enemy methods to preserve it. thats NOT a competitive practice, and it has NO place in a market that is supposed to be free.

    no.

    im not paying ZIT to a record company until things are set right. if they see in themselves the right to be bitches, well, i can play that game too.

    1. Re:bud, were you living in mars ? by cliffski · · Score: 1

      now explain why you pirate movies and software too...

      Or are you privy to every deal ever sigend between a software dev and a publisher and an actor and a movie studio, and always check against that list of 'acceptable' deals when you decide whether or not to torrent stuff?

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
  27. as above, as below by unity100 · · Score: 1

    if the country prioritizes its corporations' profits more than it prioritizes its citizens, its citizens prioritize their selfish agendas more than they value their education.

    you reap what you sow. simple as that.

  28. Not so simple at all by westlake · · Score: 1
    These is the story your Senator is reading:
    .

    Chemical Society President Praises House Passage of Higher Education Act

    The president of the American Chemical Society today praised Congress as well as a coalition of science, business and education organizations for their work leading to House passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act which supports STEM education.
    ACS President Bruce Bursten, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville said the final bill showed Congress understands the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education programs to America's future.
    "As both president of the world's largest scientific society and a university faculty member and dean, I am grateful for the bill's emphasis on improving the rigor of teacher-education programs in science and math, and the priority it places on providing incentives to encourage students to obtain STEM degrees and pursue STEM-related careers. I am especially pleased the bill takes actions to expand efforts to encourage diversity in the science and technology workforce by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups. On behalf of the more than 160,000 members of the American Chemical Society, I thank Congress for giving education policy the attention it deserves via this important bill."
    In a letter to leaders of the Senate and House committees which guided the bill's passage, the American Chemical Society joined 13 other science, education, and business organization in praising the "outstanding bipartisan leadership" of Congress on this issue.

    This is the story that will be reprinted by his campaign.

    Senators serve six-year terms that are staggered so elections are held for a third of the seats (a class) every second year. United States Senate

    The Senate is quite deliberately structured to filter out the background noise - so that it can focus on what is central and not peripheral.

    The odds are quite good that you will out of school and have other things to think about before your Senator comes up for relection. Your threat is just so much hot air.

    Free music in the dorms is never going to rank high on his list of priorites.

    1. Re:Not so simple at all by Lunarsight · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The odds are quite good that you will out of school and have other things to think about before your Senator comes up for relection. Your threat is just so much hot air.
      Free music in the dorms is never going to rank high on his list of priorites.

      Just for the record, I've been out of college for a considerable amount of time. I rarely if ever user P2P software.

      However, if this isn't a blatant example of fine print being smuggled into existing legislation under the proverbial radar, then I don't know what is. To me, that's the bigger issue here. I'm tired of corporate interests sneaking their wishlists into well-meaning legislation by using those representatives they have in their proverbial pockets to do the deed.

      Perhaps the threat of their removal from office is hollow for the Senate, but something definitely needs to be done here to express our disapproval with this. At very least, write your representation in both sections of Congress, and let them know you don't approve.

      If that doesn't make them change their tune, then perhaps we need to begin playing dirty like the RIAA does.

    2. Re:Not so simple at all by leabre · · Score: 1

      The problem is, we can "don't approve" all we want but they still keep getting re-elected so obviously enough people do approve or don't care.

      Thanks,
      Leabre

    3. Re:Not so simple at all by Lunarsight · · Score: 1

      The problem is, we can "don't approve" all we want but they still keep getting re-elected so obviously enough people do approve or don't care.

      You said it - most people could care less.

      This isn't even about P2P/file-sharing. It's about the entire legislative process being corrupt. If corporations can pull this stunt with something like this, they can do it for anything.

      So, the million dollar question - how do you get people to give a damn? They seem too fixated on American Idol to bother with such trivial matters as government corruption.

  29. Congratulations by JaneTheIgnorantSlut · · Score: 1

    I haven't read the bill yet...

    That puts you in the same group as the members of the senate that voted for it.

  30. There is no piracy! by warrior_s · · Score: 1

    Apart from what *AA says, is there ANY proof that there is piracy going on in colleges across US?
    Don't tell me that every one knows why students use DC++ etc.. I want PROOF of piracy?

    1. Re:There is no piracy! by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      But proof is a burden, why should we have to provide it when our word is good enough?

      /MPAA-mindset

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    2. Re:There is no piracy! by neminem · · Score: 1

      Um... what world are you living in? Not the real one, clearly. Go to any school that has a private lan. Ask a handful of people walking to classes, whether they use that lan to download files they don't own. I bet you very few colleges would have many negative responses to that question] (unless you showed up declaring yourself a member of the RIAA, in which case, of course nobody ever did that.) Obviously, I can't speak from experience about every college ever. But certainly, every college I've ever seen or heard of, either students used its private lan to share files, or else it just didn't have a private lan capable of setting up Windows file-sharing.

  31. Drug war by mounthood · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They did the same thing when the drug war was all the rage, and all those laws are still in place.

    We know it hasn't worked, but it was never about something that works. If it damages the economy or puts millions in prison, they just don't care. Think of this as setting the boundaries of discourse. Even if it doesn't help the music industry in the short term, the majority of Americans will absorb the following:

    • Decent law-abiding people think not paying is stealing. Music costs money; anything else is stealing.
    • Networks need to be policed and monitored.
    • Everyone is responsible for stopping drugs/downloading music. You cannot sit in a meeting at your organization and suggest that the policies are wrong and that the organization should act differently... it's a boundary of discussion.

    Its not about making sales or promoting a store, its about changing hearts and minds. The music industry will benefit from the assumptions: they have to exist because otherwise music is stealing, and decent people are against stealing music, and organizations work to stop stealing music.

    Sure, we smoked in college and downloaded music, but now we're adults. We don't sit in meetings and suggest that drug tests at work are wrong... do we?

    --
    tomorrow who's gonna fuss
  32. Who still listens to Big Labels? by Phoenix666 · · Score: 1

    It's a good sign that the RIAA is successfully preventing the public from hearing the product turned out by the big labels. Younger demographics, who are their target, do not listen to the radio nor watch TV. They get their music through their friends and online. The more successful the RIAA is at cutting off the online channel, the less access they have to the people they want to reach.

    Older demographics already have all the Huey Lewis & the News and Led Zep tracks they could ever want, so they're not going to make up the shortfall. So, the more draconian laws like this the RIAA can get passed, the faster they'll accelerate their disappearance.

    It's going on 10 years since they declared war on the music-listening public. I can't wait until we never hear the acronym RIAA again.

    --
    Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
    1. Re:Who still listens to Big Labels? by Tuoqui · · Score: 1

      I think the MAFIAA is full of bullshit because lets look at some things shall we...

      Have they ever claimed Piracy was on the decline? No. Certainly Piracy has ebbs and flows just like every other 'crime' rate.

      Even if they managed to get rid of all the illegitimate online copyrighted material they wouldn't want to. I am sure even THEY know that the illegitimate distribution actually benefits them. This has been proven in a large number of studies in terms of music. Those who pirate music tended to be those that purchased the most music. Most people use online downloading of MP3's as a way of screening good songs/albums from the floating turds of the music scene. Thus when they enter a brick and mortar store, they know exactly what they wish to purchase without having to screw around.

      The RIAA wants people to come into the brick and mortar stores without warning and without foreknowledge of the music they wish to purchase. This way a consumer can be forced to purchase more 'crap' before they find the good stuff.

      PS: Anyone find it hypocritical that they bitch about online distribution when radio stations are there broadcasting music 24/7 FOR FREE... This might be what is perpetuating the 'music shouldnt cost anything' mentality that is encouraging 'piracy'... Then again some stations play certain songs way too damn much (Achey Breaky Heart was one of the songs that was overplayed when it came out... Anything by Brittany Spears is also fell under that category because it sucked the first time around)

      --
      09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
      +2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
  33. P2P? Ha! Use sneakernet. by sdo1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is P2P even all that relevant when a 1TB USB HDD costs about a hundred fifty bucks? Load drive with songs/movies/media/whatever, walk 10 ft to dorm door next to yours, select all, copy, paste, wash, rinse, repeat.

    Just stop trying to pretend that it can be stopped or traced. Stop writing worthless laws to try and curtail it. It's too late. It's too easy and too widespread and P2P isn't really that much of a factor when such massive amounts of data can be transferred so quickly and cheaply by actually picking up a hard drive and carrying it to your buddy's place. It's only a matter of time before multi-terabytes of storage are on a tiny memory stick for twenty bucks. Then what?

    Artists and media companies need to start offering value again (like the awesome new Paul Westerberg album available at the DRM-free Amazon MP3 store for $0.49). Like it or not, the ease of copying (illegal as it may be) has caused the value of media to plummet. The more artists (like Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Paul Westerberg) realize that and adjust accordingly, the better off they'll be. Instead the **AA will continue to be in the pockets of lawmakers for more continued (albeit unsuccessful) attempts to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

    -S

    --
    --- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
  34. I don't have mod points by BPPG · · Score: 1

    So I'll just say "Bravo"!

    --
    What's the value of information that you don't know?
  35. Re:Simpler solution. by iamwahoo2 · · Score: 1

    Colleges should comply by putting up links to free legal music downloads. There you go, an alternative to illegal music downloads.

  36. Kharma whoring by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Informative

    On the final version of the bill that came out of conference committee and went to the White House

    House: 380-49
    Senate: 83-8

    Why do we need to link to the "open source!" info when the original source is also open to the public (and, in my opinion, more useful)?

  37. Re:Simpler solution. by antic · · Score: 1

    Could provide an opportunity for people and indie sites to get together and present something useful to the universities that will help them comply, support the underdogs, etc.

    It's sad that something like this can get passed. I would be appalled if this happened in my country.

    --
    'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
  38. Bill 2 remove fed crim penalties for marijuana by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Too bad Slashdot didn't post the submission I made for this news item:

    "Rep. Barney Frank -- shown here at a July 30 press conference with MPP's Rob Kampia -- has introduced a bill to remove federal criminal penalties for small marijuana violations. Take a minute to urge your member of Congress to support this commonsense bill now."

    Now that's something worth passing! A lot of geeks smoke cannabis, I'm sure this news item would be interesting to a lot of geeks, but Slashdot passed on the news:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo78L3ZFGKk
    https://secure2.convio.net/mpp/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=177

    Other items of interest:

    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/profiles-in-marijuana-reform-milton-friedman-part-1/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/profiles-in-marijuana-reform-milton-friedman-part-2/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/profiles-in-marijuana-reform-rick-steves/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/profiles-in-marijuana-reform-john-newmeyer/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/the-human-cost-of-marijuana-prohibition-part-2/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/the-human-cost-of-marijuana-prohibition-part-1/
    http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/profiles-in-marijuana-reform-jim-hightower/

  39. Best Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The bill should mandate the requirement of music appreciation courses. This would be the best long term solution.

  40. Congres thinks commercial profits education by JoeCommodore · · Score: 1

    This is a message that our current legislators think that serving the corporate recording and distribution industry is far more important than allowing kids to get an education. The primary subject they are voting for is to let a small portion of selfish interests be able to dictate frivolous laws on what all of us should do and don't do regardless of what consequences and damages it puts on the judicial and justice system.

    --
    "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
  41. Re:P2P? Ha! Use sneakernet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please please please post where I can get a 1 *TB* USB device for only $150--I've been looking for months and haven't found anything anywhere near that.

  42. Re:P2P? Ha! Use sneakernet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But there is seemingly an upside to the **IAs "lining" the pockets of government officials:
    1. They have a failing business model --> loosing money
    2. Lining pockets --> loosing money

    So, if they keep up with 1 & 2 (Especially if 2 keeps asking for more and more), they will eventually run out of money, because they can sue all they want, they will never recoup the money that they wasted in court costs, and the fact that most people could never afford their exorbitantly high demands.

  43. Huge business opportunity by Sgt_Jake · · Score: 1
    I urge the colleges to satisfy the requirement of "offering alternatives" by partnering exclusively with indie, creative-commons, and public domain distributors.

    This is actually genius. If this bill passes, the universities will be required by law to 'offer alternatives'. The government is under some obligation to fund such mandates, and as such, indie/creative-commons/public domain distributors may have a huge opportunity to make the government fund their efforts to provide alternatives. It would also clearly meet the additional requirement to 'explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity' by design, making it the cheaper and more attractive solution for Universities who have to implement such systems. Even if the government doesn't pay, the Universities will need to comply with the law and would certainly pick the cheapest system. If that system is backed by lawyers, the staff, and students... the RIAA would have a really hard time convincing congress that the law was wrong and that it needs to be re-written so that they can get paid. I don't care enough about music to do anything, but non-RIAA distributors have a huge opportunity to create a system that complies with a law written by the RIAA and steal their most lucrative market. (Instead of just their music - heh!)

    1. Re:Huge business opportunity by ponraul · · Score: 1

      The cheapest alternative would be to just label whatever allocation the campus radio station is currently getting as an "alternative."

      Hell, they could even get with the 90's and stream it over the campus network.

      Problem solved. Next, please.

  44. Of course Obamam and McCain are "no votes" by iminplaya · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So I will assume that all the other "no votes" are potential vice presidential candidates :-)

    --
    What?
  45. Re:P2P? Ha! Use sneakernet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the modus operandi in Russia and the rest of that part of the world though it also happens sometimes because people have no access to broadband and need a workaround. People routinely carry hard drives around to exchange terabytes of games, movies, music, and of course porn. Or they download things at work or at college and then take their hdd home. That US colleges might have to come down to this level is unfortunate.

  46. Re:Congres thinks commercial profits education by JoeCommodore · · Score: 1

    The title should read: Congress Thinks Commercial profits > (greater than) Education

    (though in general it's more like money greater than citizens...)

    --
    "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
  47. Just gotta say by iminplaya · · Score: 1

    To Feingold, Kucinich, and Lee... shame on you. This would be expected from everybody else, but from you three I expected better. Especially you, Ms. Lee. You were the only standout of the whole bunch. And now, it turns out that you too, are a sellout or didn't bother to read the bill. Off to Hades with every last one of you!

    --
    What?
  48. Penn State? by tkrotchko · · Score: 1

    It's this kind of nonsense that stopped me from contributing to the university. I figured if they had enough money for patronage to the record labels, my contribution was not going for it's intended purpose: educating young adults.

    --
    You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
  49. Cryptic Senator Lingo by CobaltBlueDW · · Score: 1

    "College Opportunity and Affordability Act" = "Federally Inexpensive Youth Targeted Infringement Mechanism" Oh yeah. Forcing Colleges to create resource pools, and be net-nannies; That'll definitely make college more affordable. \:|

  50. Whoosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Reread: "College piracy" == Piracy of colleges/college degrees

  51. Right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because you have access to everyone's home directories....