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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 438 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 438

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

                             April 7, 2006

  Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Nelson of 
Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 are 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, unauthorized 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 peer-to-peer use on college computer systems also exposes those systems 
        to increased volumes of pornographic or obscene material, including 
        child pornography, which are readily available on peer-to-peer systems;
Whereas peer-to-peer systems have also been used to gain unauthorized access to 
        personal and sensitive information, such as social security account 
        numbers, medical information, tax returns, and bank statements;
Whereas colleges and universities must use valuable and finite resources in 
        responding to requests from victims and law enforcement seeking to stop 
        illegal downloading on college computer systems;
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 illegality and potential legal consequences of 
        unauthorized downloading of copyrighted works; and the additional 
        security risks associated with unauthorized peer-to-peer use; and
Whereas it should be clearly established that unauthorized 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 all 
        practicable 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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