Motion Picture Association of America kills bill to prevent theft of personal information

[Ian David]

By Ryan Singel| Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Dec, 01, 2006

A tough California bill that would have prohibited companies and individuals from using deceptive "pretexting" ruses to steal private information about consumers was killed after determined lobbying by the motion picture industry, Wired News has learned.

The bill, SB1666, was written by state Sen. Debra Bowen, and would have barred investigators from making "false, fictitious or fraudulent" statements or representations to obtain private information about an individual, including telephone calling records, Social Security numbers and financial information. Victims would have had the right to sue for damages.

The bill won approval in three committees and sailed through the state Senate with a 30-0 vote. Then, according to Lenny Goldberg, a lobbyist for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the measure encountered unexpected, last-minute resistance from the Motion Picture Association of America.

"The MPAA has a tremendous amount of clout and they told legislators, 'We need to pose as someone other than who we are to stop illegal downloading,'" Goldberg said.

Consequently, when the bill hit the assembly floor Aug. 23, it was voted down 33-27, just days before revelations about Hewlett-Packard's use of pretexting to spy on journalists and board members put the practice in the national spotlight.

<snip>

"The MPAA told some members the bill would interfere with piracy investigations," the aide said. The association "doesn't want to hamstring investigators."

More:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72214-0.html?tw=rss.index

[PVnRT]

1. Jesus

Nice to see legislators doing what's right for the people.

[Richard Steele]

2. Yeah, so nice to have a Government that isn't owned by wealthy Corporations.

:puke:

[RB TexLa]

3. It's not like there are that many people working for the entertainment

industry in California. Being able to protect copyrights and their jobs should mean nothing to the California Assembly??? Everyone working in the entertainment industry is a millionaire and it's only the difference in what type of private jets they have, right?

[acmejack]

4. You're defending this?

[DBoon]

5. When an industry thinks it needs to act like a criminal

and use fraudulent means to prevent "illegal downloading" there is something seriously wrong.

Should the MPAA also be legally allowed to "kneecap" people it suspects of copyright violation? Would protecting jobs in the entertainment industry justify repealing laws against assault in this case?

Pretexting is an absolutely criminal fraudulent activity. Protecting ALL the citizens of California from this should be more important than protecting any industry.

[PVnRT]

6. And what about the rest of the bill?

Throw baby out with bath water - check.

[RB TexLa]

8. no one can rewrite the bill? damn that's some tough legislative rules

[PVnRT]

9. Or it could have been amended

But, whatever, you seem to be more interested in sticking up for Hollywood executives than the privacy rights of everyone else.

[Greyhound]

12. This argument is total BS and has been shown as such since the

RIAA first started this crap. If you're really concerned for the workers in the entertainment industry, you should be advocating the enforcement of union regulations by requiring them to be applied wherever the production takes place.

I find it so funny that an industry based entirely on the theft and exploitation of artists is depicted by the ignorant as the poor hapless victims of those evil consumers.

[cui bono]

13. Seriously. And they should be made to keep the jobs at home.

I hate seeing those ads - when I'm at the theater seeing a movie I PAID for - that have people who supposedly work in the industry, below the line (not a producer, writer, director or actor), pleading with people not to download because it hurts their livelihood when in fact their own jobs are being exported by the studios/producers they are defending so as to avoid paying union wages. Traitors.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. The good news is that Bowen is about to become the Sec. of State

Maybe in her new role she can find another way to address it.

[Greyhound]

10. Ain't corporate amerika grand?

Screw you and your silly "ethics", this is money we're talking about here, and that trumps everything else.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I'll bet these same lobbyists...

are the reason we've got Lieberman and Clinton criticizing video games.

Video games are a bigger threat to the movie industry than piracy, I'd wager.

[girl gone mad]

14. And the internet...

I have to beg my son and his friends to go to see a movie these days and they seem bored by most films. It's hard to even get them to watch a DVD. I think there is a generation gap at play. Kids and teens today do not get the same sense of enjoyment out of passive entertainment.

[buddysmellgood]

15. The answer is publicly funded elections.

[acmejack]

16. Just six dollars!

A great interview with John Rauh, Chairman of the Americans for Campaign Reform


http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/242/elections-funding.html