U.S. Senate has passed an amendment to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act that requires universities to educate students on digital piracy and detect/ prevent it.
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Glickman commends Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his leadership on this critical issue. Movie piracy is rampant among college students, accounting for more than half a billion dollars loss to the U.S. industry annually.
“Piracy costs the U.S. film industry over $6 billion annually which means lost jobs and revenue for the American economy,” says Glickman. “Some college students are abusing powerful taxpayer funded computer networks to download and distribute movies and other copyrighted material which is why we are committed to working with universities to develop and implement plans to address this problem. We commend Senator Reid for his leadership in getting this important legislation passed through the Senate which will help encourage universities to do more.”
Motion picture piracy results in total lost output among U.S. industries of $20.5 billion annually. It costs $5.5 billion in lost U.S. wages. Absent piracy in the U.S., 141,000 jobs would have been created and $837 million in additional tax revenue. Forty four percent of the total loss to the U.S. film industry is attributable to campus piracy.
According to the language recently adopted, all universities will be required to provide information to the Department of Education describing:
• Education efforts for students on the potential civil and criminal consequences for the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.
• Steps they are taking to prevent and detect unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials on university networks.
• Campus policies on unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, including disciplinary actions against individuals who engage in the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material on university computer systems.
Glickman adds, “We look forward to working with Members of the House who are also interested in this important issue when they take up this legislation in the fall.”