Legislation proposed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will criminalize “attempts” to infringe copyrights, permit wiretaps for piracy investigations, and allow easier seizure of PCs and other hardware used to commit copyright infringement.
On the very same day that cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies, and even some universities had to finally meet the FBI’s requirement allowing it to essentially “wiretap” internet users, the Attorney “Generalisimo” himself, Alberto Gonzalez, was submitting a legislative proposal to the Democrat Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to take advantage of this new found law enforcement capability.
The Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 wil crack down on file-sharing and enforce intellectual copyright protections in ways the United States has never seen before. Download an MP3 or movie illegally and the Feds would then be able to seize your PC. Yep, you heard me right, SEIZE YOUR PC for illegal file-sharing, and the worst part is that after yesterday’s deadline for CALEA compliance they now have the tools at their disposal to do so.
I hate to say “I told you so” but, this news comes on the heels of yesterdays reporting about yesterday’s deadline for compliance with the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act(CALEA). The IPPA of 2007 would criminalize “attempts” to infringe copyrights, permit wiretaps for piracy investigations, and allow easier seizure of PCs and other hardware used to commit copyright infringement.
Gonzalez writes:
Because intellectual property is critical to not only our economy but also to the public’s health and safety, the Attorney General is strongly committed to the protection of intellectual property rights, the safeguarding of our citizens, and the punishment of those who violate the law.
What’s odd though is that the govt can prosecute individuals for copyright infringement even if the copyright for that material has not yet been registered and therefore not lawfully copyrighted.
Gonzalez continues:
Prosecutors cannot control whether or when a copyrighted work is registered. Because prosecutors work for the public good, they should be able to institute an infringement prosecution even if the copyright has not yet been registered.
Pretty startling right? They can bust you even if the content has not yet been properly copyrighted!
As usual, the devil’s in the details, and the details of the IPPA of 2007 are enough to make you shake your head in astonishment.
Highlights of the IPPA of 2007
1. Creates a new Federal offense of “…attempting to commit criminal copyright infringement,” saying that “…those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.”
2. Authorizes the “…forfeiture of property intended to be used in the commission of the offense,” as well as “…restitution to the copyright owner and any other victim.” By bye PC. Bye bye external HDDs. Bye bye blank media.
3. Outlaws the exportation of infringing copies of copyrighted works, presumably meaning that sharing files with individuals outside the US would also be illegal.
4. Allows law enforcement officers the ability to have “…access to the full range of lawful investigative tools when they investigate intellectual property crimes,” meaning that they would be able to “wiretap” an individual’s internet connection for the purpose of investigating criminal copyright infringement cases.
5. Creates a new sentence of life imprisonment for anyone using pirated software “…where the defendant knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause serious bodily injury.” An example of this would be a hospital using pirated software which then results in situation where a patient is then injured or harmed.
The 2008 election couldn’t come soon enough but, in the meantime make sure to voice your opinion with your local elected state and federal representatives.
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Wow that did not take them long. I really love how he adds public heath and safety in the equation copyright infringement has never been a problem with health and safety can you say BULL SHIT!.
There seems to be the incorrect notion that the internet was some how immune from snooping before yesterdays CALEA extension deadline expired. This still requires law enforcement to initiate the a wiretap yesterdays article seemed to imply that the RIAA or MPAA will eventually be able to do wiretaps on their own. It should be noted this is not the first attempt to ram through such provisions they tried for similar provision last year around this time. So I am not entirely sure how much CALEA had to do with this.
http://news.com.com/Congress+readies+broad+new+digital+copyright+bill/2100-1028_3-6064016.html
Gonzales has tried at least three time counting this latest attempt to make a crime of “attempting to infringe”. He tried with a propose in 2005 http://static.publicknowledge.org/pdf/20051110-doj-ip-prot-act.pdf again in 2006 as mentioned above and now this. Indeed this propose seems to be mostly a resubmission of his 2005 proposal except then it was called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005. Also the NET Act of 1997 provides for forfeiture and destruction in criminal cases.
@prh99
I dint mean to imply that the RIAA or the MPAA could snoop on their own rather I meant to note that they would now be able to lobby the govt to better enforce copyright rules and regulations being that the technology to better do so is now in place.
Now they can just whine before the Feds in Senate hearings about all of the supposed losses due to piracy and the govt could then take action.
Or more simply put before the RIAA and MPAA had a mere IP address to go on and then would try to get your ID via your ISP. Now they can just sit back and leave it to the hands of law enforcement.
Lets just hope nothing comes of this proposed legislation once again as you have pointed out and things stay as they are.
You would think there would be a law against resubmitting laws untill it is accepted into law.
Or how about leaving laws to the lawMAKERS?
seriously what does this mean for canadiens?
it means theres going to be a lot more Canadians.
As usual this is a law that would be virually impossible to enforce. First of all a good portion of the file sharers are outside of the United States’ juristiction. They would have to get all the other nations to cooperate (fat chance of that!) Secondly where are all the personnel to do this going to come from? As it is now the RIAA and MPAA sue only a very small fraction of file sharers. It is purely symbolic. Are we going to pull agents off of child abductions? terrorists watches? enforcing immigration on the border? going after hardened criminals who rob banks and such? serial killers? Which area is going to be cut back so that agents can watch the internet for possible copyright infringement? And all you have to do is attempt to do it…not actually do it. Before long they’ll want to wire into our brains to see what crimes we “might” commit during our lifetimes (wasn’t there a movie like that?) And turning a civil case into a criminal one is a big dangerous step. I hope Gonzalez gets canned before too long. He has a big scandal on his back with the firing of those judges who were making the wrong rulings as far the Repulicans believed. This law is just another slap in the face to the people favoring the corporations over the populace. Another good reason to vote when the time comes.
@Burd
Amen.
Speaking only for myself I will not go back to the old way of acquiring music and if that means going outlaw then so be it!
How we let these money hungry pigs into office in the first place it seems that only people with money can afford to buy these products. This could change a lot of things what is not to say that they are logging every discussion we have now. Even if they may need warrants to tap us who’s not to say they can just make them appear. I mean who’s not to say that they already have all the judges in their back pockets and they just hand out warrants like child predators hand out candy to kids? What happened to the land of the free? This is not my America. Hmm does the book 1984 ring a bell…?
On another note what would happen if Gonzalez fell off the tomato truck that kind of thing happens every day….
Burd they made a movie called minoirty report ya know….
This nothing new….they could have always confisated your equipment if they believed you were infringing copyright. But Gonzales has enough problems to worry about with the firing of those former US attorneys….I don’t think this will go anywhere.
But they have already passed enough “laws” to “stop” p2p and infringment? But has it stopped it? I don’t THINK SO!
Fact is you can make all the laws you want but it is the enforcement that is the key. The US Government can’t even secure our ports and borders from terrorisim…what makes people think they can pull this off?