MPAA meets turnitin.com

Created by Steven Worona (EDUCAUSE) on October 13, 2008

Following up on the report from my colleague Anna Gould about last Wednesday's hearing on the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA): During his testimony, the MPAA's Stewart McLaurin promoted his organization's new, improved Briefing Book on Campus Digital Piracy. Two pages of this full-color brochure are devoted to the HEOA, and my attention was grabbed by these two paragraphs:

When used in combination with other internal and external solutions to educate users and enforce campus policies, a technology based deterrent is an essential element of an overall solution to combat infringement.

Effective technology based deterrents are currently available to universities through a number of private vendors. Different technology solutions exist so that an institution of higher education can choose which one best meets its needs depending on that institution’s own unique characteristics such as cost and scale. Numerous institutions are utilizing various technology based deterrents in their efforts to combat copyright infringement on their campuses.

The text sounded familiar, and I soon discovered why: It's taken word-for-word from the HEOA "Conference Report" (p. 116). Conference Reports explain how variations between Senate and House versions of a bill have been resolved, often providing important guidance on how the legislation is to be interpreted and enforced.

Now, I know what you're thinking: How ironic that the MPAA would steal someone else's words while delivering stern admonitions against "campus digital piracy"! Turns out they're in the clear here: Although it might have been nice to cite the source, documents produced by federal employees are generally not covered by copyright.

No, far more interesting is the one place where the MPAA chose to diverge from the Conference Report.

Where the MPAA says:

…a technology based deterrent is an essential element of an overall solution…

the Conference Report says:

…a technology-based deterrent can be an effective element of an overall solution…

And so the spin game has begun.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

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		MPAA meets turnitin.com Created by Steven Worona (EDUCAUSE) on October 13, 2008 Following up on the report from my colleague Anna Gould about last Wednesday's hearing on the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA): During his testimony, the MPAA's Stewart McLaurin promoted his organization's new, improved Briefing Book on Campus Digital Piracy. Two pages of this full-color brochure are devoted to the HEOA, and my attention was grabbed by these two paragraphs: When used in combination with other internal and external solutions to educate users and enforce campus policies, a technology based deterrent is an essential element of an overall solution to combat infringement. Effective technology based deterrents are currently available to universities through a number of private vendors. Different technology solutions exist so that an institution of higher education can choose which one best meets its needs depending on that institution’s own unique characteristics such as cost and scale. Numerous institutions are utilizing various technology based deterrents in their efforts to combat copyright infringement on their campuses. The text sounded familiar, and I soon discovered why: It's taken word-for-word from the HEOA "Conference Report" (p. 116). Conference Reports explain how variations between Senate and House versions of a bill have been resolved, often providing important guidance on how the legislation is to be interpreted and enforced. Now, I know what you're thinking: How ironic that the MPAA would steal someone else's words while delivering stern admonitions against "campus digital piracy"! Turns out they're in the clear here: Although it might have been nice to cite the source, documents produced by federal employees are generally not covered by copyright. No, far more interesting is the one place where the MPAA chose to diverge from the Conference Report. Where the MPAA says: …a technology based deterrent is an essential element of an overall solution… the Conference Report says: …a technology-based deterrent can be an effective element of an overall solution… And so the spin game has begun. Steve This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members. Washington Update \| Higher Education Act \| mpaa \| P2P Steve's blog Login or register to post comments 239 reads
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