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Should universities be responsible for stopping piracy?
DAYTON — Faced with the threat of losing federal funding, colleges and universities across the nation are making efforts to curb piracy of music and movies by their students.
Under the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act, if schools do not implement plans to “effectively combat” the piracy of copyrighted materials, they face losing eligibility for billions in federal student aid and research dollars.
“They put teeth behind the need to address file-sharing on college campuses,” said Thomas D. Skill, associate provost and chief information officer for the University of Dayton. “The safest harbor is to block traffic. We have tried every other avenue out there.”
While UD is blocking the use of the programs most commonly used for piracy — peer-to-peer sharing programs like Kazaa and BitTorrent — other schools are taking a less heavy handed 
approach.
For more than five years, Wright State University has used a combination of software and education to curb piracy. “I can’t remember the last time we had a repeat offender,” said Mike Natale, WSU manager for Internet security.
Advocacy groups say piracy has cost the music and film industry billions each year. “It is the first time ever in the history of dealing with the issue that Congress is holding schools accountable and requiring them to address the problem,” Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, wrote on the group’s website when the new rule took effect July 1.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Colleges and Universities
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By dale1
August 31, 2010 6:50 AM | Link to this
No the universities should not be held responsible for somethings the students do over the school network. Should TW be responsible for priacy? The music and movie industry are getting a gift from this administration for voting for Obama. Another shady Obama tactic to help his supporters. Should parents also be responsible if this kids steal music and movies from home?