FC: DOJ says it's ready to begin prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954591.html

   DOJ to swappers: Law's not on your side
   By Declan McCullagh
   August 20, 2002, 2:27 PM PT

   ASPEN, Colo.--The U.S. Department of Justice is prepared to begin
   prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates, a top government official said on
   Tuesday.

   John Malcolm, a deputy assistant attorney general, said Americans
   should realize that swapping illicit copies of music and movies is a
   criminal offense that can result in lengthy prison terms.

   "A lot of people think these activities are legal, and they think they
   ought to be legal," Malcolm told an audience at the Progress and
   Freedom Foundations annual technology and politics summit.

   Malcolm said the Internet has become "the world's largest copy
   machine" and that criminal prosecutions of copyright offenders are now
   necessary to preserve the viability of America's content industries.
   "There does have to be some kind of a public message that stealing is
   stealing is stealing," said Malcolm, who oversees the arm of the
   Justice Department that prosecutes copyright and computer crime cases.

   [...]





-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/
Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan
CNET Radio 9:40 am ET weekdays: http://cnet.com/broadband/0-7227152.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------