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New TN Law Forces Universities To Patrol For Copyright Violations
CSMatt points with this excerpt from the EFF's page: "Last week, the RIAA celebrated the signing of a ridiculous new law in Tennessee that says: 'Each public and private institution of higher education in the state that has student residential computer networks shall: [...] [R]easonably attempt to prevent the infringement of copyrighted works over the institution's computer and network resources, if such institution receives fifty (50) or more legally valid notices of infringement as prescribed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 within the preceding year.' While the entertainment industry failed to get 'hard' requirements for universities in the Higher Education Act passed by Congress earlier this year, the RIAA succeeded in Tennessee (and is pushing in other states) with this provision that gives Big Content the ability to hold universities hostage through the use of infringement notices. Moreover, the new rules will cost Tennessee a pretty penny — in the cost review attached to the Tennessee bill, the state's Fiscal Review Committee estimates that the new obligations will initially cost the state a whopping $9.5 million for software, hardware, and personnel, with recurring annual costs of more than $1.5 million for personnel and maintenance."
Neither. The law specifically states that if their reasonable efforts aren't enough, no one can do anything to them.
Here's the portion that's relevant.
(b) Nothing in this section shall:
(3) Waive the protections available to Internet service
providers under 17 U.S.C. 512;
(4) Subject public institutions of higher education to any
suit whether for monetary damages, injunctive relief, or any cause
of action whatsoever;
(5) Be deemed or construed to waive or abrogate in any
way the sovereign immunity of the state, the public institutions of
higher education, or any officer or employee of the state or the
public institutions of higher education or waive or abrogate in any
way the immunity of the state, the public institutions of higher
education, or any officer or employee of the state or the public
institution of higher education from suit under the 11th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Even though it is law, there is no threat to not following it or not doing enough or whatever. They follow the DMCA notices as required by law, Keep their immunities, and do something insignificant and call it reasonable.
Of course I would doubt that the making reasonable efforts would even come into play at all. The law says notices of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This has nothing to do with P2P or file sharing in general. The file sharing would come under the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999. Of course if some one knows their content is being hosted there, the DMCA take down would be valid. It will be interesting to see how this actually plays out.