New Bill Pulls Fed Funding From Colleges That Don't Crack Down On Piracy

If anyone questioned the commitment and zeal the RIAA has for cutting into the prevalence of illegal downloading, the following will put all those to rest forever: 

According to LAPTOPLOGIC.COM, Rep. GEORGE MILLER (CA) and RUBEN HINOJOSA (TX) have crafted a 747-page bill that will withhold all federal funding to any university that fails to police their networks for illegal file sharing -- and provide an alternative from P2P sharing (NAPSTER or RUCKUS). Among the funding to be withdrawn would be federally sponsored grants, such as the Pell grant and low-interest student loans.

The penalty doesn't just impact the implicated students -- every student on campus loses federal financial aid if the university refuses crack down. Predictably, the RIAA and the MPAA strongly support the bill, since digital piracy remains a rampant problem on campus.

The universities? Not so much. The University of MARYLAND Chancellor and presidents of STANFORD, YALE and PENN STATE wrote a letter to CONGRESS, declaring: "Such an extraordinarily inappropriate and punitive outcome would result in all students on that campus losing their federal financial aid--including Pell grants and student loans that are essential to their ability to attend college, advance their education, and acquire the skills necessary to compete in the 21st-century economy. Lower-income students, those most in need of federal financial aid, would be harmed most under the entertainment industry's proposal."

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