Tennessee anti-P2P law to cost colleges over $13 million

Championed by the RIAA, who pointed to the University of Tennessee's no. 4 position on the list of top music piracy schools, and the MPAA, which noted the school's no. 19 spot on its infringement list, the law will force both public and private schools in the state to implement policies to prevent and prohibit copyright infringement on campus computers and networks.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will have to spend nearly $2.8 million for software, over $6.5 million for hardware, and hire 21 full-time employees at a cost of $1.575 million annually.

The RIAA is understandably elated at the passage of the bill, and why not? It forces schools to crack down on copyright infringement at no cost to the industry, and sets a disturbing legislative precedent for other states to follow.

Automated infringement-detection systems really don't work that great: researchers at the University of Washington were able to attract almost 500 bogus DMCA takedown notices, some of which were directed at three networked printers.