George Miller (D-CA), normally among the most progressive and sane of legislators, has sponsored an educational reauthorization bill, the ‘‘College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007," that in its 747 pages (yep, I read 'em all) puts forward plenty of good stuff.

But, as Jonathan Glater points out in the Bits Technology blog at the NY Times, this bill also includes language that would require colleges and universities to police downloading behaviors of students, staff, and faculty--further, that is, than many already do.

Pertinent passages require institutions to publish annually a "disclosure that explicitly informs students that unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, may subject the students to civil and criminal liabilities;" and also, "a summary of the penalties for violation of Federal copyright laws;" and also, "a description of the institution’s policies with respect to unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, including disciplinary actions that are taken against students who engage in unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials using the institution’s information technology system;" and also, "a description of actions that the institution takes to prevent and detect unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material on the institution’s information technology system.’’

And this has precisely what to do with ensuring college affordability and opportunity to students? Must be all those aging metal and silver-screen stars in the ranks of U.S. institutions of higher learning who would otherwise go royalty-less and therefore no longer be able to profess their knowledge for the paltry sums on offer, thereby robbing students of the chance to quiz said luminaries in person about the wisdom of the universe. Or am I missing something?