New Bill Wants Colleges To Become Copyright Cops For RIAA

I've been trying to wrap my head around this one. It's amazing that the entertainment industry has this much power. I guess I'm being naive, the RIAA and MPAA are industry associations that, like trade unions, wield enormous political power. Right from it's website, the RIAA's ''mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality."
So far the RIAA has been suing individuals it claims violate copyrights of member companies. They have had mixed results dealing directly with colleges and universities to stem the tide of P2P file sharing on campus networks. Now they want some additional leverage.

A massive education bill introduced into Congress contains a provision that would force colleges and universities to offer "technology-based deterrents" to file-sharing under the pain of losing all federal financial aid. Section 494 of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 is entitled "Campus-Based Digital Theft Prevention" that could have just as easily been called "Motion Picture and Recording Industry Subsidies," as it could force schools into signing up for subscription-based services like Napster and Rhapsody.

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