[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 64 (Monday, May 22, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4916-S4917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ILLICIT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the
consideration of S. Res. 488, submitted earlier today.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (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.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today I reintroduce a resolution that
expresses the sense of Congress that colleges and universities should
continue to educate their students about the importance of intellectual
property and the harm caused by copyright infringement. I am joined in
offering this resolution by Senators Leahy, Hatch, and Nelson of
Florida, as well as my colleague from Tennessee, Senator Frist.
This measure is very similar to S. Res. 438, a Senate resolution
which three of my colleagues and I introduced last month. I call my
colleagues' attention to my remarks on S. Res. 438 and those of Senator
Leahy, which both appeared in the Congressional Record on April 7,
2006.
Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to,
the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the
table, and any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 488) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 488
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
[[Page S4917]]
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.
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