Judiciary Subcommittee Examines P2P Piracy on College Campuses -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 10, Bulletin 4 -- February 27, 2003

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held a hearing on Wednesday, February 26 to examine the issue of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) piracy on college campuses. P2P piracy occurs when an individual uses an Internet file-sharing network (such as Morpheus or Gnutella) to download music, movies, and other copyrighted works.

Among the witnesses were Hilary Rosen, Chairman and CEO, Recording Industry Association of America, and Graham Spannier, President, Pennsylvania State University and Co-Chair

Ms. Rosen detailed the scope and damage of P2P piracy, stating that 2.6 billion music files are downloaded monthly, with many of those files being downloaded by students on college campuses. She outlined the actions her industry and other entertainment industries have taken to solve the problem. Last fall, RIAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, and others wrote to over 2,000 colleges and universities asking for their active participation in addressing the problem. As a result, the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities was established. Dr. Graham Spannier co-chairs the group with Cary Sherman, the President of RIAA. Ms. Rosen was hopeful that the industry and the academics would be able to establish common standards to devise strategies to educate students on the harm of P2P piracy and on their legal obligations.

Dr. Spannier stated that "the misuse of P2P technology on college and university campuses-the subject of this hearing-is a serious problem that is now acutely confronting higher education administrators. Fully understanding the nature and scope of the problem and how to deal with it raises a series of challenges that we are working hard to meet." He detailed the efforts Penn State has taken to educate its students on the problem. He also outlined the steps the University will take when a student is downloading large files thought to be copyrighted works. As a last resort, after several warnings and intermediate efforts, the University will bar a student from access to the University network. He also discussed the efforts of the Joint Committee and believes it will be able to identify a number of new practices that will then be shared widely with the nation's colleges and universities.

Rep. Howard Berman (Valley Village) has been actively involved in resolving the piracy problem and introduced legislation to deal with the P2P piracy issue.

For all testimony, access the Committee's website at: http://www.house.gov/judiciary .

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