Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and Campus or Subscription Music Services

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a higher-education funding bill that includes controversial new antipiracy obligations for universities.

The 354-58 vote to approve the College Opportunity and Affordability Act leaves intact an entertainment industry-backed provision, which makes up just a tiny part of a bill that has ballooned to more than 800 pages.

Many Republicans join Democrats in backing legislation to ratchet up scrutiny of college spending and pricing, toughen student loan oversight, and ease aid application.

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students.

"When it comes to file sharing and illegal downloads, it's the big music labels that complain the loudest about being ripped off. Bob Moon reports on some ideas that might help the recording industry face the musical future. "

In this report the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) provides a comprehensive look at the four-year litigation campaign waged by the RIAA against music fans. The report traces the RIAA campaign from its beginnings in 2003 against a handful of students at Princeton, Rensselaer Polytechnic, and Michigan Tech to the current spate of "pre-litigation settlement" letters being sent to universities nationwide.