MPAA Welcomes Keller Legislation

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WASHINGTON – The Motion Picture Association of America welcomed the introduction

of legislation giving colleges and universities greater incentive to implement anti-piracy tools

within their networks to curb the practice of campus piracy. The legislation, H.R. 1689, was

introduced by Congressman Ric Keller (R-FL) and is called the Curb Illegal Downloading on

College Campuses Act of 2007.

“I am encouraged by the efforts of Congressman Keller and others who recognize the

severity of the problems associated with campus piracy and the pivotal role the higher

education community can play in curtailing the theft of movies and other copyrighted works

online,” said MPAA Chairman & CEO Dan Glickman. “I also hope that our friends in the

higher education community will move forward to take advantage of tools currently available

that can reduce the ongoing levels of copyright theft taking place via campus networks.

Such action benefits more than the film industry. It can also reduce network maintenance

costs, improve network functionality and, most importantly, help prevent network users

from using university resources to break the law.

“This legislation is a valuable development in the ongoing efforts to curb campus piracy,

which represents 44 percent – over $500 million annually – of total domestic losses to major

U.S. motion picture studios.”

The MPAA continues to work with the higher education community to reduce the amount

of piracy on campuses and help schools successfully implement a legitimate online

environment, for the benefit of both the school and the content creators.

Working directly with campus administrators, the MPAA has identified effective programs

for combating copyright theft on campus networks. As a result, the MPAA has issued a

“Best Practices Guide” for college administrators, providing them with a roadmap to follow

in order to meaningfully impact the problem of network abuse and illegal copyright theft.

Source: MPAA