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Testimony of William E. “Brit” Kirwan before the Hearing on: September 26, 2006 Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the very important and troubling issue of illegal piracy of intellectual property through campus-based, peer-to-peer file sharing. By way of background, the University System of Maryland (USM), where I serve as Chancellor, consists of 11 degree granting institutions as well as 2 specialized research centers. We enroll over 125,000 students (both full and part-time) with over 6,600 faculty members. In recent years the USM has worked collaboratively with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as well as with the Association of American Universities (AAU) and Educause, whose very mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology, on the issues of file sharing and copyright infringement. I am also the newest member of the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, a group formed three years ago to foster collaboration between the higher education and entertainment communities in addressing unauthorized campus peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. I will serve as co-chair beginning on November 1. While I may be new to this Committee, I am certainly not new to the issue of peer-to-peer file sharing on our campuses. Colleges and universities have, to some degree, held center stage in the peer-to-peer discussions for some time now. As you all know, with faster computers and better programs, “big pipes”, and a population of young people who are both technologically savvy and very vested in their music and entertainment, our institutions bring together several factors that drive file sharing. I might observe, however, that with the expansion of broadband to all businesses and to the home, higher education is no longer in the unique position regarding networking that it was a decade ago. One of the most compelling reasons why we must have a clear and coherent approach to this issue is our obligation to not only abide by the existing copyright statutes, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to engender within our students a respect for intellectual property ownership and the law. If this were the only matter to be dealt with, it would, in and of itself, be sufficient reason to act. Our legal obligations to act are joined with our ethical responsibilities. Of course, other issues come into play as well. For example, we all know how abuse of campus networks creates significant problems: It can saturate and overtax existing networks bandwidth; it costs institutions money in increased support costs; and it also introduces the potential of increased electronic security risks on campus through spyware, viruses, increased “spamming,” and even identity-related issues. I can state without hesitation that higher education is at the front of the line of people who want this unauthorized activity to stop. The money and time it takes to clean up after it is significant. In addition, plenty of students complain that the activity is clogging up the network to the point that they can’t get their work done. Given higher education’s place in this discussion, it is clearly incumbent upon us in the higher education community to take aggressive, proactive steps to end illegal peer-to-peer file sharing. I am pleased to say that the University System of Maryland takes this obligation seriously and is acting accordingly. First and foremost, as a systemwide operational procedure, every institution scrupulously adheres to our obligations under that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), responding to all inquires. In addition, the USM has instituted a 4-point systemwide strategy: First, every institution must have an articulated policy covering acceptable use of network resources that clearly respects the network as a shared resource and particularly prohibits illegal activity. Each institution takes this policy seriously and enforces it accordingly. Second, every institution has programs to educate students, faculty and staff as to what is legal and illegal. Additionally, the University System Board of Regents has established a technology literacy requirement that follows recommendations of the National Research Council. In particular, there is an expectation that academic programs include discussions of the ethical and societal impact of technology. Each institution has responded to this requirement. Third, each institution employs technologies that monitor its network and in particular identify inappropriate traffic, watching for signatures and characteristics of illegal activity. I stress that we do NOT examine content and therefore maintain privacy rights. Fourth, every residential campus provides a legal alternative, such as Cdigix and Ruckus, which enable the legitimate purchase of copywrited material. I also note that the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities is highly vigilant and effectively proactive in assisting campuses in identifying and eliminating illegal peer-to-peer activity. Over its first few years, this voluntary cooperative venture worked to educate campus communities on copyright law and its application to campus peer-to-peer file sharing, promoting campus policies and best practices to reduce file sharing, and technological mechanisms for controlling file sharing. More recently, the Joint Committee expended considerable effort to promote pilot projects between campuses and legitimate digital content delivery services. Going forward, the Committee will be taking additional steps: updating and broadly redistributing the 2003 white paper on the legal aspects of campus peer-to-peer file sharing; updating the campus policies and practices paper, augmented by current research on what approaches to reducing unauthorized file sharing are particularly effective; and convening a meeting with legitimate digital content delivery services with programs on our campuses, to explore what is working well and what obstacles remain. I must point out, however, that in our effort to eliminate illegal use of file sharing we must also protect the ability of colleges and universities to conduct legitimate peer-to-peer activity. There has, in fact, been significant growth in this area, especially among scientists and researchers who deal with large datasets. For example, in the field of bioinformatics, peer-to-peer networks can be used to run large programs designed to carry out tests to identify drug candidates. I know the National Foundation for Cancer Research is involved in such a cooperative effort. There is also the Ockham digital library project, a peer-to-peer system linking digital libraries funded by the National Science Foundation that makes content more accessible, especially to the millions served by the libraries of the nation's colleges and universities. In addition, there is a lot of campus-developed open-source software distributed via P2P, such as LionShare, a secure peer-to-peer file sharing application enabling legal file sharing at Penn State University. Use of legitimate peer-to-peer is not unique to academia; Warner Brothers has formed a partnership with BitTorrent, one of the most widely used file-sharing clients, in an effort to convert users into customers. I will conclude my brief testimony with the following observation: We in higher education recognize our responsibility to stop unauthorized activity. We take copyright law seriously, both as users and producers of copyrighted material. With the steps we have taken at USM, we have seen a significant drop in illegal peer-to-peer activity. Of course, as new peer-to-peer technologies are implemented, we sees spikes in illegal activity, which only serves to remind us that we must stay vigilant. Overall, however, our long-term trend in the area is moving in the right direction. From my perspective, cooperation, collaboration, and active engagement are the keys to continued progress. We have experienced real and meaningful results in recent years because we have established cooperative relationships. I am convinced that if we build upon these relationships, through efforts such as the Joint Committee, we can address the problem of illegal peer-to-peer activity while maintaining the ability to conduct legitimate and important academic and research endeavors. Once again, I appreciate the time and attention of this subcommittee and
look forward to our continuing efforts to address this important matter.
Thank you. |