Starting this month, colleges and universities that don't do enough to combat the illegal swapping of "Avatar" or Lady Gaga over their computer networks put themselves at risk of losing federal funding.
A provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 is making schools a reluctant ally in the entertainment industry's campaign to stamp out unauthorized distribution of copyrighted music, movies and TV shows.
Colleges and universities must put in place plans "to effectively combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by users of the institution's network" without hampering legitimate educational and research use, according to regulations that went into effect Thursday.
That means goodbye to peer-to-peer file-sharing on a few campuses — with exceptions for gamers or open-source software junkies — gentle warnings on others and extensive education programs everywhere else.
Despite initial angst about invading students' privacy and doing the entertainment industry's dirty work, college and university officials are largely satisfied with regulations that call for steps many of them put in place years ago.
But whether the investment of time and money will make a dent in digital piracy is uncertain.
Among other things, schools must educate their campus communities on the issue and offer legal alternatives to downloading "to the extent practicable."
Colleges and universities that don't comply risk losing their eligibility for federal student aid.
Many colleges worried they would be asked to monitor or block content. But the provision says schools can get a great deal of flexibility, as long as they use at least one "technology-based deterrent."
Their options include taking steps to limit how much bandwidth can be consumed by peer-to-peer networking, monitoring traffic, using a commercial product to reduce or block illegal file sharing or "vigorously" responding to copyright infringement notices from copyright holders.
Few campuses have gone as far as Illinois State, which raised eyebrows by seeking and accepting entertainment industry money to underwrite a now-abandoned research project on digital piracy.
The university also blocked all peer-to-peer activity in residence halls and on wireless access points, said Mark Walbert, Illinois State's chief technology officer. Students who use the technology for legal means — like tapping open-source software Linux or downloading World of Warcraft game updates — can get exceptions.
For students seeking legal download options, the school developed BirdTrax, a Web page with links to the free movie and music streaming websites such as Hulu and Pandora.
In 2007, the University of Michigan took a different approach, launching a campus initiative called "BAYU," which stands for "Be Aware You're Uploading." At little cost, the school developed a software program that automatically notifies users of university networks when they are uploading, or sharing files from their computer with users elsewhere.
File-hosting services such as RapidShare store infringing content on distant servers, meaning uploaders' identities are difficult to track. Websites that share links to those files are searchable through Google.
"It's a much more complicated battle than it was five years ago because so many new modes of infringement are emerging
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