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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 488 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 488

Expressing the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education 
  should adopt policies and educational programs on their campuses to 
 help deter and eliminate illicit copyright infringement occurring on, 
and encourage educational uses of, their computer systems and networks.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2006

    Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Nelson of 
 Florida, and Mr. Frist) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education 
  should adopt policies and educational programs on their campuses to 
 help deter and eliminate illicit copyright infringement occurring on, 
and encourage educational uses of, their computer systems and networks.

Whereas the colleges and universities of the United States play a critically 
        important role in educating young people;
Whereas the colleges and universities of the United States are responsible for 
        helping to build and shape the educational foundation of their students, 
        as well as the values of their students;
Whereas the colleges and universities of the United States play an integral role 
        in the development of a civil and ordered society founded on the rule of 
        law;
Whereas the colleges and universities of the United States have been the origin 
        of much of the creativity and innovation throughout the history of the 
        United States;
Whereas much of the most valued intellectual property of the United States has 
        been developed as a result of the colleges and universities of the 
        United States;
Whereas the United States has, since its inception, realized the value and 
        importance of intellectual property protection in encouraging creativity 
        and innovation;
Whereas intellectual property is among the most valuable assets of the United 
        States;
Whereas the importance of music, motion picture, software, and other 
        intellectual property-based industries to the overall health of the 
        economy of the United States is significant and well documented;
Whereas the colleges and universities of the United States are uniquely situated 
        to advance the importance and need for strong intellectual property 
        protection;
Whereas intellectual property-based industries are under increasing threat from 
        all forms of global piracy, including hard goods and digital piracy;
Whereas the pervasive use of so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks 
        has led to rampant illegal distribution and reproduction of copyrighted 
        works;
Whereas the Supreme Court, in MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., reviewed 
        evidence of users' conduct on just two peer-to-peer networks and noted 
        that, ``the probable scope of copyright infringement is staggering'' 
        (125 S. Ct. 2764, 2772 (2005));
Whereas Justice Breyer, in his opinion in MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 
        wrote that ``deliberate unlawful copying is no less an unlawful taking 
        of property than garden-variety theft'' (125 S. Ct. 2764, 2793 (2005));
Whereas many computer systems of the colleges and universities of the United 
        States, including local area networks under the control of such colleges 
        and universities, may be illicitly utilized by students and employees to 
        further unlawful copying;
Whereas throughout the course of the past few years, Federal law enforcement has 
        repeatedly executed search warrants against computers and computer 
        systems located at colleges and universities, and has convicted students 
        and employees of colleges and universities for their role in criminal 
        intellectual property crimes;
Whereas in addition to illicit activity, illegal peer-to-peer use has multiple 
        negative impacts on college computer systems;
Whereas individuals engaged in illegal downloading on college computer systems 
        use significant amounts of system bandwidth which exist for the use of 
        the general student population in the pursuit of legitimate educational 
        purposes;
Whereas peer-to-peer use on college computer systems potentially exposes those 
        systems to a myriad of security concerns, including spyware, viruses, 
        worms or other malicious code which can be easily transmitted throughout 
        the system by peer-to-peer networks;
Whereas, according to a recent study released by the Motion Picture Association 
        of America, students at colleges and universities in the United States 
        accounted for $579,000,000 in losses to the motion picture industry of 
        the United States in 2005, which represents 44 percent of that 
        industry's annual losses due to piracy;
Whereas computer systems at colleges and universities exist for the use of all 
        students and should be kept free of illicit activity;
Whereas college and university systems should continue to develop and to 
        encourage respect for the importance of protecting intellectual 
        property, the potential legal consequences of illegally downloading 
        copyrighted works, and the additional security risks associated with 
        unauthorized peer-to-peer use; and
Whereas it should be clearly established that illegal peer-to-peer use is 
        prohibited and violations punished consistent with upholding the rule of 
        law: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) colleges and universities should continue to take a 
        leadership role in educating students regarding the detrimental 
        consequences of online infringement of intellectual property 
        rights; and
            (2) colleges and universities should continue to take steps 
        to deter and eliminate unauthorized peer-to-peer use on their 
        computer systems by adopting or continuing policies to educate 
        and warn students about the risks of unauthorized use, and 
        educate students about the intrinsic value of and need to 
        protect intellectual property.
                                 <all>
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