p2pnet news | Freedom:- “This is the bill that resulted from the 300% error survey,” said a p2pnet Reader’s Write to our story that literally at the last minute, Steve Cohen (right) yanked his amendment to the entertainment cartel inspired College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 which would have given American schools a measure of protection against being financially penalised if their students were found to have been sharing files online.

The 300% error survey was a grotesque MPAA travesty in which it’d been claiming 44% of Hollywood’s domestic losses could be attributed to file sharing students.

After seeing its grossly incorrect statistic splashed worldwide by the mainstream media and repeated as fact by American politicians, it finally admitted the figure should have been far lower —- 15%, in fact.

“Now that the data produced by the MPAA, the lead advocate for this provision, shows that illegal file-sharing by students using university servers is a very small part of the larger file-sharing issue, this provision is the moral equivalent of using a bazooka to kill a fly,” CNET News has Barry Toiv, a spokesman for the Association of American Universities, saying.

Cohen pulled out, claiming he couldn’t get to Washington in time to personally present his amendment after learning tornadoes had cut a deadly swath in the southern US, including his district in Memphis.

Now, “The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a higher-education funding bill that includes controversial new antipiracy obligations for universities,” says CNET, going on:

“The 354-58 vote to approve the College Opportunity and Affordability Act leaves intact an entertainment industry-backed provision, which makes up just a tiny part of a bill that has ballooned to more than 800 pages.”

The act, one of the most egregious farces ever promulgated, would compel American colleges and universities to act as corporate sales divisions and copyright enforcement agencies —- with American taxpayers footing the bill.

Higher-education institutions, “participating in federal financial aid programs ’shall’ devise plans for ‘alternative’ offerings to unlawful downloading – such as subscription-based services – or ‘technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity’,” says CNET, quoting Steve Worona, Educause’s director of policy and networking programs, as saying:

“We reject the contention that campuses play a disproportionate role in the file-sharing problem. The requirements of the legislation will increase tuition costs and provide no value.”

The bill’s sponsors insist it’s a “myth” that schools will lose financial aid funding if they fail to come up with the requisite plans, says CNET, “But university groups still say that’s not the way they read the bill language, arguing that they find it unfathomable that such requirements would carry no penalty.”

However, “It’s possible that the section opposed by universities could be stripped out before the bill becomes law,” says the story,

“The Senate passed a different higher-education funding bill last year, so the two sides will have to reconcile their differences before sending a final measure to the White House for the president’s signature.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:

at the last minute – File sharing / student loan protection, February 7, 2008
grotesque MPAA travesty – Huge Hollywood mistake in student download stats, January 23, 2008
CNET News – House approves MPAA-backed college antipiracy rules, February 7, 2008

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 9:23 am and is filed under Freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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