Bush administration proposal would criminalize 'attempted' copyright infringement

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 15, 2007 7:06:29 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] Bush administration proposal would criminalize  
'attempted' copyright infringement


Dave,

My initial reaction to the Bush proposal was to consider it a
bizarre and potentially dangerous extension of already
over-entrenched IP rights, suggesting that the RIAA and MPAA seem to
actually have the kind of influence over our government that
conspiracy theorists have long attributed to the Illuminati.

But then I realized that there's a bright side.  Since the proposal
would turn Homeland Security into a Compact Disc/RIAA watchdog
agency, this suggests that all the doom and gloom we hear about
budget and management problems at DHS must have been fixed!
Otherwise, nobody in their right mind would propose adding copyright
policing to their mandate.

And now we can finally understand why there's been the big push to
require wiretapping/monitoring capabilities in all phone systems and
computer networks.  We always figured such broad mandates didn't
make sense just for fighting terrorism and violent crime.  But now
we can see the light -- it's for keeping tabs on all those college
kids and their evil filesharing!

Wow, it's great to know that the Bush team has finally gotten their
act together when it comes to allocating scarce resources.  I guess
we can all sleep much better from now on.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com

 - - -

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Sunil Garg <sunil () sunilgarg com>
> Date: May 15, 2007 6:20:47 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Bush administration proposal would criminalize 'attempted'
> copyright infringement
>
> Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement
> http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719339-7.html
>
> Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to
> enact a sweeping intellectual-property bill that would increase
> criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to
> commit piracy.
>
> "To meet the global challenges of IP crime, our criminal laws must be
> kept updated," Gonzales said during a speech before the U.S. Chamber
> of Commerce in Washington on Monday.
>
> The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal
> called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is
> likely to receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music
> industries, and would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright
> law since a 2005 measure dealing with prerelease piracy.
>
>
> The IPPA would, for instance:
>
> * Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law
> currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between
> 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that
> takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice
> Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet
> of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do
> not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing
> so.")
>
> * Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software.
> Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts
> to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call,
> Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using
> pirated software instead of paying for it.
>
> * Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be
> authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to
> infringe copyrights.
>
> * Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property
> such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright
> crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset
> forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police
> agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is
> problematic and controversial.
>
> * Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright
> Act's anticircumvention regulations. Criminal violations are currently
> punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1
> million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties.
>
> * Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes. Certain copyright
> crimes currently require someone to commit the "distribution,
> including by electronic means, during any 180-day period of at least
> 10 copies" valued at more than $2,500. The IPPA would insert a new
> prohibition: actions that were "intended to consist of" distribution.
>
> * Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry
> Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized
> fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical
> performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture
> Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any
> other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news
> organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special
> treatment.
>
> <snip>
>
>
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