October 29, 2009

As part of the congressionally-passed Higher Education Opportunities Act, federal provisions requiring schools to take proactive steps to reduce instances of illegal file-trafficking on their networks were recently issued as final regulations.  These education law reforms were the result of productive negotiations between stakeholders representing the higher education and entertainment communities.  As one of the stakeholders in these negotiations, we consider these provisions to be an example of the considerable progress that can be achieved when we sit down together and develop tools that mix the right level of accountability for illegal activity on campus networks with appropriate flexibility for university administrators.  Translation: it’s easier to come up with a solution when you’re working as a team.

And we’re already seeing examples of this progress occurring on campuses throughout the country. Since passage of HEOA, many schools have stepped up their efforts against illegal file-trafficking and experienced big results. For example, after implementing a robust plan to prevent music theft online, Bowling Green State University reduced the number of copyright theft notices its students receive from 39 per week to just four per week. (Check out other examples here, here and here.) These efforts reflect the growing trend among universities who want to cut costs, increase bandwidth and connection speeds and help their students avoid the pitfalls associated with illicit peer-to-peer file-sharing.

And the collaboration doesn’t stop there.  Because of these successful negotiations, the stakeholders agreed to continue working together on a set of best practices guidelines which will help schools determine -- according to each school’s unique system – how best to comply with these new provisions. We look forward to continuing our work with the higher education community to come up with further workable solutions to these important issues. 

Cary Sherman, President, Recording Industry Association of America