Tennessee Proposes Own Crackdown on College Campus File-Sharing

New bill prohibits the “infringement of copyrighted works over the school’s computer and network resources.”

Despite a lack of evidence that the widespread “theft” of copyrighted works is occurring on college campuses in the state of Tennessee, or the absence of any real entertainment industry interests like California, lawmakers there are considering a new bill that would force public colleges to crack down on illegal file-sharing.

The bill recently introduced in the Tennessee State Senate, SB 3974 , would force colleges that receive state funding to police their networks to prevent illegal file-sharing by students, staff, and faculty.

It makes no mention of what the punishment for noncompliance will be, but certainly funding will be the stick that follows the carrot.

It reads, in part:

Each institution of higher education that receives funding from the state of
Tennessee shall, by January 15 of each year:

(1) Develop and enforce a policy defining computer and network usage and ethics that covers students, staff, and faculty; that clearly describes and prohibits the infringement of copyrighted works over the school’s computer and network resources, including over the school’s local area and internal networks; that details the penalties for infringement provided under both federal law and the school code; and that is visibly posted in school computer labs and when users sign on to the network; and

(2) Thoroughly analyze its computer network, including its local area and internal networks, to determine whether it is being used to transmit copyrighted works, and either

(A) Certify to the Tennessee higher education commission that an analysis under this subdivision indicates that the institution’s network, including its local area and internal networks, is not being used to transmit copyrighted works, and that the institution has not received ten or more legally valid notices of infringement in the preceding year from owners of the infringed works or their authorized agents; or

(B) Take affirmative steps, including the implementation of effective technology-based deterrents, to prevent the infringement of copyrighted works over the school’s computer and network resources, including over local area and internal networks, and report to either the board of regents of the state university and community college system or the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee the policy developed under subsection (a) and the affirmative steps taken under this subdivision.

Now why Tennessee needs to address the issue all of a sudden when certainly it has more pressing concerns than whether or not Joe Q. Student is connecting to BitTorrent to download free music in his spare time is beyond me, but somebody somewhere must be getting a nice sum in contributions for the issue to even make the legislative agenda – “pay to play” as they call it.

Plus, what about the fact that most students at state colleges tend to live off-campus? Do the “figures” blaming college students for piracy take into account this differentiation? Something tells me that the MPAA’s recent mea culpa that it had inflated their estimated piracy losses by some 300% is just the tip of the iceberg.

Related Posts

1. Tennessee Governor Signs Campus Piracy Bill into Law
2. Senate, RIAA and MPAA Target Illegal File Sharing Across Campus Networks
3. Warner Music Proposes File-Sharing Tax for College Tuition
4. US Congress Passes Anti-Campus File-sharing Requirements
5. Congress wants to question college IT officers about illegal file-sharing