People dying in Iraq, war on terror, government funding in crisis, children dying from lack of health care -- So - what is congress concerned with? Making sure the entertainment industry can make more money. Could this have something to do with campaign donations?? Nahhh---
College officials have been aware and wary of growing Congressional
interest in student file sharing of music and videos — a practice many
students consider normal and that the entertainment industry views as
tantamount to theft. Colleges, generally feeling caught in the middle,
have worried that Congress might try to impose an unworkable solution.And that’s what they fear could happen this week — with the Senate
majority leader (needless to say someone with whom colleges do not want
to pick a fight) largely responsible. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada
announced his plan to prevent “campus based digital theft”
through a series of requirements that he is expected to try to attach
to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, when the Senate
takes up that legislation, most likely in the next day or so.
In a prior life, I've been a network administrator at a WIsconsin university. This sort of legislation is typical of what is going on - forcing universities to spend money, time, and effort on totally unworkable "protection" of college networks. These systems don't work, are difficult to implement, and seem to cause a lot more difficulty for the network administration staff than for the file-sharing students.