First, it was the recording industry that colleges had to worry about, and now it’s the movie industry, too: Thousands of colleges and universities received a friendly reminder from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) this month, with MPAA officials highlighting a federal law that requires institutions to devise policies against the illegal downloading of copyrighted material.
The letter, signed by Daniel Mandil, senior executive vice president of the MPAA, reiterated that universities must publish a “written plan to effectively combat the unauthorized distribution” of illegally downloaded movies, TV shows, and music using the campus’s internet connection.
Mandil points out that the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), passed by Congress in 2008, requires colleges and universities to create policies against illegal file sharing as a condition to receive federal student aid.…Read More