Comments on: Anti-P2P college bill advances in House

Measure would require schools receiving financial aid to devise "deterrents" to illegal file sharing, but it's unclear what will happen if they don't.

[chuchucuhi]

HAW!

Man this really is getting crazy. At least the government can relish in the fact that the majority of us are arm chair protestors and don't have the stamina to stop them anymore. Maybe this will encourage more people to vote at least.

[kgsbca]

It shouldn't be a shock

It's universally accepted fact that the president is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but you have to wonder if Congress is just stupid or corrupt. What a ridiculous piece of legislation. Why should colleges be forced to be police for one relatively small industry? Why isn't congress passing laws that force auto manufacturers to pay for security guards to cut down on shoplifting? After all, most shoplifters leave the store in cars. why isn't congress creating laws that hold the phone companies liable for all the crimes that are planned and committed over the phone?

The House minority leader (Bohner) once said that Congress couldn't do their jobs without lobbyists. I guess he meant that they aren't stupid enough to think of stuff like this on their own.

[MyRightEye]

Ron Paul will not vote for this, so you should vote for him!

There's no wonder so many net users like Ron Paul, he's completely
against any government regulation of the Internet.

If you don't know who Ron Paul is, Google him.

[chonnom]

Ron Paul = Snakes on a plane

Remember all the hype and the input accepted from the online community for that movie....then none of them paid to see it.

[jdbwar07]

Snake oil salesman

Ron Paul is either a nutcase or a snake oil salesman. He is no friend of higher education or the internet. Please keep in mind that Ron Paul is wants to abolishing financial aid to students as well; your point is moot since he doesn't believe the government should be funding it in the first place. He doesn't believe in any of that "welfare" crap. I guess dumb students who can't afford thousands of dollars a year in tuition should find a way to make that money on minimum wage or since they don't have wealthy parents just accept their lot in life as part of the lower classes.

Ron Paul is against net neutrality and supports Big Business being in absolute control of the internet. I don't want AT&T controlling how fast my browser loads (or whether at all) based on whether the web site has paid them access fees.

This is why to support real freedom and equality Americans need an honest, accountable government that works for the good of the public. Right now we have a corrupt corporate state. The alternative to bad government is good government, not the simplistic Ron Paul solution of getting rid of it and instead putting Big Business in charge.

[georgiarat]

They are not worried

The Dems are not worried. They know the vast majority of
college professors, staff and students vote Democratic.
Therefore, they get to pay off their big contributors in the media
industry, they don't worry about losing any votes for it, and the
colleges get the shakedown by the media industry.

Anytime a political party can take any group for granted, college
faculty, evangelicals, a minority, NRA, unions, etc then the
group should expect to get exploited.

[tombpsyco]

NO Government

The government needs to stay the heck out of this!!! Only the college should have the right to bar a persons funds and take the appropriate disciplinary actions. Come on people our government was NOT designed to make policy for colleges.

[bschmidt25]

Right...

If there are no implications for Financial Aid if colleges do not comply then why are they mandating that these notices be included in students' Financial Aid documents? The stupidity of this legislation boggles the mind, but it will still pass because they slipped this RIAA/MPAA handout in under the radar and it is not receiving the amount of coverage it should be.

[Arbalest05]

RELAX - Bill will not pass in current form

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-4137

This bill (actually an amendment to a much older piece of legislation) is only in the idea stage and will likely be substantially changed before it can be voted out of committee.
One clue that it isn't going anywhere yet is that it has 1 cosponsor. Bills with only one cosponsor usually never get out of committee, let alone become law.

[AnneBroache]

Bill has passed committee

Just to clarify, this bill has already been unanimously approved by the House Education and Labor Committee, which was the reason for this story in the first place. The number of cosponsors isn't so significant in this case because it's sponsored by two prominent committee chairmen. You're right, though, that the language is not final: It could still undergo further changes on the House floor, which is what happened with the Senate version after universities raised a fuss.

[chuck_whealton]

Hold on...

I understand that stealing copyrighted material is WRONG and AGAINST THE LAW.

I don't understand why Congress feels it's the job of an educational institution to babysit students.

Not all students live on campus. Will Congress be contacting their landlords to ask for their compliance? How about the students who live at home?

Why is Congress involved in this at all beyond dictating the laws and penalties aimed at stopping this? Why are colleges and universities being held hostage to do something about this?

If this were to pass, I don't believe that individual students won't suffer. And if it's students that have done nothing wrong, that makes this more of a travesty of justice than downloading any copyrighted material.

Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com

[Jim Harmon]

Another waste of time and taxpayer money

What use is legislation without the teeth to back it up? NONE! Why are they wasting their time and our money on this?