The bill amends the "Higher Education Act", a bill that supplies federal money to universities and allows that money to be used for programs that reduce illegal downloading of copyrighted content.
The goal of the bill is to free up university money that would otherwise be spent on added bandwith costs and so the universities can use the extra money on keeping campuses secure from viruses that can find their way into user's computers through p2p programs. The bill notes that "computer systems at colleges and universities are intended primarily to aid in educating and increase research capability among students and faculty."
The "Higher Education Act" allows that the extra money from federal funding can be used in certain areas such as financial aid grants generally, but the new amendment to the bill would allow the money to be used for additional areas.
Although it is not guarenteed that the bill will ever make it to a vote, it should be intersting to follow its path through Congress.
Source:
Arstechnica
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Apr 2007 7:51
