Washington - The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday approved a major college spending bill that includes provisions urging schools to adopt anti-piracy programs on their campus networks, CNET News.com reported. However, it appears that the provisions -- which include investigating "technology-based deterrents" to file-sharing and looking into alternative, legal download services -- will not be directly tied to receiving federal financial aid.

"The provisions do ask colleges, to the extent practicable, to develop plans for offering students alternative legal ways to file share, as well as plans to prevent file sharing, but this would not be included in the financial aid program participation agreements colleges enter into with the U.S. Department of Education," committee spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told CNET News.com.

"Contrary to what critics are saying, these provisions would not put students or colleges at risk for losing financial aid."

The only provision that would be tied to financial aid is one that would require schools to inform users of their networks of "the policies and procedures related to the illegal downloading and distribution of copyrighted materials," Racusen said.

Still, some are skeptical that the bill won't provide some penalties for schools that don't adequately develop anti-piracy efforts.

"If it had no teeth, (the Motion Picture Association of America) would be criticizing it," Gigi Sohn, president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told News.com.

A similar bill was approved in the Senate this summer.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/ypm8q7 (CNET)

http://tinyurl.com/2rtea7 (DMW previous coverage)