The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on a survey that seems to show colleges are already pretty involved - and fairly heavy handed - in enforcing copyright compliance among their students. Actually, I should say that they are involved in trying to keep students from illegally downloading and sharing movies and music. Other forms of copyright violations are presumably the same way they’ve always been handled, since no one seems to talk about them. Are you old enough to remember the notices at all the copying places? Anyway, the survey gives yet another reason to laugh out loud and then get outraged at the entertainment industy’s continued efforts to, well, frankly I’m not entirely sure what they’re trying to do. I think the big studios and record labels are just angry because they haven’t figured out how to control internet distribution yet, and they’re used to controlling everything, so they’re acting like four year olds and taking their anger out on someone else - colleges that bunch up kids who actually understand the internet.
Not saying there aren’t copyright infringements, because there are. But come on, is this problem really worth the time, and money that’s being put into solving it? Seems a little like a scorned spouse spending tens of thousands of dollars in a divorce to fight over who gets the $500 antique sofa. Get over it, already.
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