Bredesen Signs Music Copyright Infringement Bill

NASHVILLE - Governor Phil Bredesen kicked off CMA Day in Nashville with a ceremonial bill signing on Wednesday. Bredesen was joined by state legislators and members of the country music industry in signing Senate Bill 3974, which requires Tennessee's public and private universities and colleges to take steps to ensure that computers on their campuses are not being used to disseminate or download copyrighted material through peer-to-peer file sharing programs.

"The illegal downloading of music has a profoundly negative effect on the music industry," Bredesen said. "As home to so many record companies, music publishers, writers and artists, I am proud that Tennessee is taking action to prevent it."

The legislation also requires these higher education institutions to develop and enforce a policy for computer usage, network usage and ethics, in addition to analyzing the network to determine if copyrighted works are being transmitted.