They say that they must do more to prevent their students from illegally sharing music, movies, and other copyrighted material on campus networks.Members of the House Science and Technology Committee heard from university officials and technology "experts" on different methods available to reduce illegal file-sharing on campus networks.They urged university authorities to conduct more aggressive educational campaigns and to use more effective network filters to reduce the problem, otherwise they may have to take matters into their own hands.Legislators warned that if illegal file-sharing continues, they may have to enact new laws or worse, even hold back funding for some of the colleges and universities who fail to comply. Rep. Tom Feeney suggested that Congress withhold funding for universities if piracy continues to run rampant, noting that universities annually receive billions of dollars in funding for research and other academic development activities. In 2007, new grants and loans to students totaled some $82 billion USD.
