Justice Dept. wants new antipiracy powers

[951]

The U.S. Justice Department recommended a sweeping transformation of the nation's intellectual-property laws, saying peer-to-peer piracy is a "widespread" problem that can be addressed only through more spending, more FBI agents and more power for prosecutors.

In an extensive report released Tuesday, senior department officials endorsed a pair of controversial copyright bills strongly favored by the entertainment industry that would criminalize "passive sharing" on file-swapping networks and permit lawsuits against companies that sell products that "induce" copyright infringement.

"The department is prepared to build the strongest, most aggressive legal assault against intellectual-property crime in our nation's history," Attorney General John Ashcroft, who created the task force in March, said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon....

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5406654.html

Whew with %100 of Al Queda in custody they can now focus their efforts on DemocraticUnderg... err kids who download off P2P.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Compare & Contrast

Brazilian Culture Minister Gilberto Gil (who is a top composer and singer, and lives off his art) today defended LESS SEVERE intellectual property laws. He advocates the Creative Commons initiative. Link to article in Portuguese (don't have time to translate it all at the moment): http://oglobo.globo.com/jornal/Economia/146283910.asp

[Heyo]

2. The first sentence of this sets of alarms for me immediately.....

"The U.S. Justice Department recommended a sweeping transformation of the nation's intellectual-property laws, saying peer-to-peer piracy is a "widespread" problem that can be addressed only through more spending, more FBI agents and more power for prosecutors."

The knee jerk reaction of spend more money, more agents, more government regulations, power for prosecutors really bothers me. It will not solve the problem and could backfire.

The problem is the collective dinosaur-era business models of the RIAA and MPAA have failed, and continue to fail to respond to technology the way it is now. And now they are going to try and use a sledgehammer (aka the legal system) to try and bash everybody into submission.

They have about as much chance succeeding in stopping file sharing, as I do of being able to collect all the CO2 molecules from the soda bottle I just opened and putting them all back in the solution and closing the top.

File sharing is at an all time high, and in my opinion, the RIAA and the MPAA couldn't deserve it more. They are learning the hard way that an increasingly tech savvy group of listeners no longer has a use for their tired old, overpriced, under-quality product marketed in a outdated fashion that has no future. What are they holding on to? Hey RIAA, let it go, get with the times, embrace the technology and you'll be a lot better off.

And the inflated figure of "we lost x billions of dollars this year alone to file sharing" is total crap. That figure assumes that every file that every person downloaded they would have otherwise bought, Ha! yeah right! I will support the artists I like, but will download whatever I want when I want to experiment with music or maybe make compilation CD's.

I am sick of hearing about the artist not getting paid for their work, they will STILL get paid, and it will always be worth it to make music. And if you're so worried about record sales, get your ass out there and play shows! Work for your money. :evilgrin:

I for one download music regularly, and will continue to do so, and the more grand-mal seizures I see the record companies have, the more I relish it every minute of it. I used to have sympathy for them, but they have brought this on themselves. Welcome to the real world, jerkoffs, file sharing is here to stay. It is at an all time high, in new ways the RIAA doesn't even know about (because they are so slow and backward, like a big dumb ape) and there is 0 chance of stopping it.

Heyo

[silverpatronus]

3. ashcroft's for it? all i need to know to be against it. n/t

[saigon68]

4. Justice dept Run wild

More agents more power to prosecutors, more Prisons

Gulag Amerika 2005

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. God damn entertainment industry...

The US government should not be subsidising the entertainment industry.

If the entertainment industry wants to seek out and sue people who infringe thier copyrights that is fine, let them spend thier time and money on thier lawyers and whatnot.

It is not the governments responsiblity to do this.