Commentary

Just An Online Minute... House To Vote On Anti-Piracy Bill

The House of Representatives could vote today on an education bill that includes provisions aimed at decreasing piracy on campuses.

Among other measures, the 747-page College Opportunity and Affordability Act would require colleges receiving federal funds to explore a plan to filter their networks for copyrighted material.

The measure cleared the House Education and Labor Committee last year, despite opposition from advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. Opponents say colleges shouldn't be pressured into spending tuition money on filters -- which not only don't work, but could result in censorship by weeding out material that's protected under fair use laws. For instance, filters can't determine if a clip is being used as part of a critical review, which is usually allowed under copyright law.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) had planned to introduce an amendment stating that schools couldn't be penalized by a reduction in federal financial aid for not complying with the bill's antipiracy measures, but that amendment was withdrawn Wednesday. His spokesperson, Marilyn Dillihay, told MediaPost that the crisis caused by this week's tornadoes in Tennessee had prevented Cohen from going ahead with the amendment.

Regardless of the fate of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, Internet service providers appear divided about the merits of filtering networks. AT&T is on record as saying it's exploring using some type of filter to block copyrighted material. Verizon is taking the opposite approach.

Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president for public affairs, recently told The New York Times that his company also opposes filtering content, saying that Internet service providers shouldn't be in the business of policing their consumers.

"We generally are reluctant to get into the business of examining content that flows across our networks and taking some action as a result of that content," he told the Times.

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