RIAA Wants Taxpayer-Funded IP Police

Sydney Weidman writes "RIAA has given testimony before the House Appropriations Committee asking for more federal money for Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property investigation teams. You can find RIAA's side of the story here and a Cnet story is available as well. Apparently, RIAA is not satisfied with the current deployment of CHIP teams since they have been more involved in anti-hacking activities than in anti-piracy. My favourite Hilary Rosen quote: "Piracy is not a private offense, it hurts everyone by diminishing the incentive to invest in the creation of music." I guess Rosen won't be happy until each and every pirate is charged with crimes against humanity and convicted by the International Court of Justice"

Comments

see this?

[garcia]

RIAA, do you see this?

I am a taxpayer, I don't want this. Tough.

Re:Good!

[Chucow]

organizations like the RIAA and MPAA are fighting to protect the hard work of those they represent

Fighting so very hard, in fact, that musicians get around $1.37 per CD? Fighting so hard that one musician goes so far as to say that he would rather have his music be given out free than through his label?

The RIAA and MPAA aren't fighting to protect anyone except themselves.

Re:Slashdotted already.

[dark_panda]

Just so all you people who don't bother to read the articles know (and before you start losing your minds over the anti-linux stuff) the original article doesn't mention linux at all. So mod the previous post up as funny or troll or something, not informative, you crazy mods.

J

Re:not so crazy?

[5KVGhost]

To suggest that, given the current laws protecting intellectual property, we should then turn around and ignore them when it comes to enforcement, is going about it all wrong.
No, until we reach that day when IP laws are stricken down from the books forever (I propose a new Amendment!), we must do our utmost to defend these laws, for they are the very things which make this country good.

I hate feeding trolls, but here goes. The problem with that argument is that laws which are actively enforced and widely obeyed are seldom stricken from the books, no matter how dumb they are. Once a law becomes a viable source of revenue or a means to power it gains a larger base of support.

I agree that the ultimate answer is to remove or change the laws. Though IMHO no Amendment is necessary, simply a return to the original intent of the protections already in the Constitution.

In the meantime, however, passive resistance is the best offense. The RIAA and MPAA can't possibly lock up everyone that offends them, no matter how many bad laws they buy or how many IP G-Men they conjur up. Heretofore all they've gotten for their troubles are a massive public backlash and a lot of people closely examining industry practicies that they'd have preferred to keep in the dark. The tighter their grasp becomes, the more power will slip through their fingers.

Re:I wonder

[richieb]

Sen Disney's SSSCA was killed outright due to the number of letters recieved on the matter.

SSSCA wasn't killed. It was renamed to "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act [CBDTPA]". And now it's been introduced in Congress.

Re:I wonder

[rutledjw]

I thought even the revised version had been killed in comittee as reported here - Copyright [CBDTPA] Bill Universally Rejected

With all the articles, it's easy to miss, but I'm very keyed on this whole thing...

Still funny and relevant...

[bonch]

http://www.campchaos.com/cartoons/napsterbad/sue_5 6k.html