News.com
Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement
Posted by Declan McCullagh
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.
Here are some of the bullets on this bit of Big Brother Legislation:
Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright
-Don't even think about burning that new Nine Inch Nails album...Oh, you did think about it? Turn around sir and face the vehicle, hands behind your back.
Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software-
-Because any accountant using a burned copy of "Turbo Tax" should have his testicles fed to him.
Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America
-Hey, Sony? Yeah, we got those copies of Spider Man 3 off the street, your kids are safe now.
Allow computers to be seized more readily
-Terrorists? What terrorists?! We've gotta get those God damned bloggers behind bars....fucking free speech my ass.
I was going to keep this short because according to E-Blogger, we bloggers have the attention spans of gnats on speed, but oh well, it's my blog and I can bitch if I want to. All kidding aside,I can understand the film and music bigwigs trying to protect their interests, but in this digital age it's kind of like the movie and film industry are the old couple that still keeps their money under the mattress. I know that duplicating copywrigthed material without permission is against the law, and I don't condone it. I don't buy burned movies, or illegally download music. Honestly. I even explained to my kids how buying burned movies financially hurts the ones who made it, and is just plain illegal. But this? This bit of despotic legislation smacks of a smoke screen to further dismantle our right to privacy. We have to draw the line, people. Politicians are public servants, and we too often forget that. They serve at our whim, and our tax dollars pay their salaries.
What's next? Is Tom Cruise going to come crashing through my window the next time I think about kicking my neigbors teeth in because their fucking Pomeranian won't stop barking at every thing that passes by?
It also seems more than a bit convenient that this comes when Alberto Gonzalez is at the front the scandal concerning the firing of District Attorneys.....Slipping this legislation through while everyone is looking in the other direction?.....Well played, Al.
I'd like to open this up to discussion for anyone that would like to.
16 comments:
I'm hardly a political animal. So maybe I'm wrong but I thought the Republican credo was to have smaller and less intrusive government. The current administration seems to want make sure that there is no part of a citizens life they don't have a thumb on. And it seems no one has been able to stop them so far.
And I forgot to mention, it's nice to finally run across a "West Coast" blogger.
Likewise, Virg...I'm not very political either, but this story caught my eye. It seems like Jack Valenti is reaching out from beyond the grave.
Well, I think it's charming that Alberto Gonzalez still has time to ruminate over IP laws. What with habeas corpus in tatters, laws on torture updated, presidential privilege laws being manipulated, illegal wars being waged; corrupt law makers trying to avoid prosecution--oh, and Gonzalez himself being under investigation for firing people who didn't bow to the president's will; IP law violation was the biggest problem looming in this country.
In my spare time, I like getting pissed off about things that don't make sense.
Oh, and please don't kick the Pomeranian--they're so cute!
Hasn't Gonzales been fired yet?
Well, I, for one, cannot think of a better way for our government to spend it's time and my money.
Fucking hell.
Sooner or later the government will realize that the internet is a beast that came uncaged years ago, and no amount of legislation or codification will enable them to put it back in it's box. It's simply too big and too ethereal to be fully controlled.
By the way, there's a homeless family without health benefits or adequate education that wants to kick AG in the junk. I'm gonna lend them my biggest boot.
So let me get this straight: my neighborhood is riddled with stray wild dogs, drugs, prostitutes, and drive-by shootings, and this jerk-wad feels that the best use of government funds is to make up a law about attempting to burn DVDs?
I got news for this asshole: if you can't get the local tricks to stop walking up and down Puta Drive, there's no way you'll be able to stop some dude at a flea market from selling Spiderman 3.
All this totalitarian government control, and it's still not safe to walk down the street at night. No wonder the world looks at America and wonders what's wrong with us.
Sleepless Mama- "Puta Drive"....god damn that was good.
Chez - Apparently he sees being grilled on a witness stand as a great way to pass some time. I see it as a big "Hey, asshole! We know what you did!"....but that's just me.
TK - Don't forget all the hookers, limo's, and private jets that your taxes are funding.....geez, I thought you kept track of all this stuff.
GWCH - I like to get pissed off at anything that moves contrary to my grand design.
I wish these assholes would go away. I don't think any of them will be held responsible. I would like to read their essays on "What I accomplished during 8 years..."
Quite frankly, in my opinion, all they've done is ball gargle the middle class of America.
This is great, Manny. Your philosophy of what pisses you off is very similar to mine. Actually, these days all it takes is a few seconds on any news channel and I'm done for the day. The world is not going according to my plan at all!
On the other hand, I'm glad we have a few things in common!
"ball gargle" is officially my new favorite phrase.
Dude, I seriously thought this was something you found on "The Onion" - it's just THAT fucking retarded.
Based upon what I've read (which essentially amounts to the title of your post), the proposal is not only unconstitutional, but virtually unenforcable (how would you offer evidence when there's no actus rea?)
Ahh, you silly Americans and your over-indulgent politicians. Oh well ... anyway, I'm off to scout out surf spots. Have fun with those psudo-laws, you guys!
Oh, and TK - if "ball-gargle" is your new favorite phrase, may I suggest considering a good therapist (at least until you get defrocked by the Archdiocese).
Matt, go sleep on a bench, you homeless reprobate.
For the love of all that is unholy, do these fuckers have no self-awareness? I just can't understand how they can just keep getting away with building a corporate theocracy over the framework of what was founded as a secular government (anyone who thinks the founding fathers were christians doesn't know shit about the enlightenment and US history). I am continuously horrified and mystified at the depths to which this administration can sink with seemingly no repercussions whatsoever.
Matt - The Onion WISHES it was as funny as I be. Word.
TK - I'll give Matt a kick to the nads for you when I see him.
Nate - If they even had a modicum of self awareness, they would have stepped down from office years ago. I think a complete lack of self awareness has become a prerequisite of holding any political office.
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