This morning, the Copyright Office announced the widely anticipated results of its sixth triennial process for exemptions to intellectual property law – making potentially controversial judgments on whether hackers, researchers and ordinary consumers can tinker with products ranging from iPads to cars.
Under Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Librarian of Congress, with the guidance of the Copyright Office, has power to grant exemptions every three years for restrictions against consumers breaking software protections.
The Librarian’s decisions on all 27 proposed exemptions can be found here.
After a multi-week “will he or won’t he?”, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has officially announced that he will run for Speaker. Ryan, popular among GOP and Democrats, will be voted in next week.
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.
Old Building$$ – While specifically about aging infrastructure on college campuses of agricultural research buildings, it really rings true about much of campus science-related infrastructure and the fact that deferred maintenance continues to be delayed. Read more at Ag Web.
Back to the Future Technology likelihood (VOX).
Cracking Down on Accreditors – Before he leaves office, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is preparing to unveil a package of proposals aimed at forcing colleges that receive federal money to improve graduation rates and to provide students with job skills by focusing on the accrediting agencies. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
Speaker Ryan? – Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that he will seek the position of Speaker, provided that he has the support of the whole House GOP caucus. The House Freedom Caucus is a little wary about his “demands” saying he’s setting them up for the blame if he ultimately doesn’t run. Read more at Politico.
Deep Pockets – There are five races right now where the deep pockets, and self-funding, of the candidates could have a significant impact on who wins. Read more at Roll Call.
Dress for Success – Looking the part is half the battle in DC. And that look is mainly Brooks BrothersHow do you look like a staffer and land that job? Read more at Roll Call.
October 21, 2015 – It was Back to the Future Day this week! How did the future stack up to the 1980s vision? Cars don’t fly but we do have holograms (not that eat you) and hoverboards (kinda, but they’re not the norm), but the Cubs might have a chance at winning the World Series! Read more at the New York Times and at Vulture and at Vox.
Last week, The Defense Department’s chief of voluntary education, Dawn Bilodeau, recently placed the chain of for-profit colleges on probation and said no new active duty service members can enroll under its tuition assistance program. The University of Phoenix is the most popular destination for Post-9/11 GI Bill college goers. This prohibition could be a hot topic today as an education advisory committee to the Veterans Affairs Department Secretary gathers for a two-day meeting starting today. Bilodeau sits on the advisory committee and the University of Phoenix has RSVP’d for the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Education Department has been working with the Defense and Justice departments on an ongoing investigation. University of Phoenix President Timothy Slottow recently wrote to hundreds of thousands of alumni and students to defend the schools’ track record.
The Defense Department’s action does not affect veterans using the GI Bill.And yet, some veterans advocacy groups say the VA should be more aggressive about cutting off GI Bill dollars when schools have deceived students.
It is possible that the meetingwill address whether GI Bill recipients, who attended the now-defunct chain of Corinthian schools, should have their benefits reset, which would require congressional action.
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