U.S. Rep. Howard Berman: Let studios hack P2P sites

I say, let the games begin!

“…Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., whose district includes Hollywood territory, said Tuesday that copyright owners needed new legal protections to combat online piracy. Some of the labels’ and studios’ high-tech techniques for stopping online file traders might be illegal under anti-hacking laws, Berman said. ‘While P2P (peer-to-peer) technology is free to innovate new and more efficient methods of distribution that further exacerbate the piracy problem, copyright owners are not equally free to craft technological responses,’ Berman said in a statement. ‘This is not fair.’ The bill, which is still being drafted, would provide a shield against legal liability for copyright owners who used high-tech attacks to stop file trading. It would stop short of giving them the right to damage file-swappers’ computers or spread viruses, however…”

Pick your source:

• ZDNet News: Lawmaker: Let studios hack P2P sites
• CNET’s News.com: Lawmaker: Let studios hack P2P sites
• San Francisco Chronicle’s SF Gate: File-sharing jamming proposed
• Washington Post’s TechNews.com: Lawmaker Tries To Foil Illegal File-Sharing
• The Register: Copyright vigilantes ride P2P shotgun
• New Scientist: New US law would allow music-sharing sabotage

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