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

Slashdotted already.

[Big Dogs Cock]

Text here:

RIAA Urges More Funds, Stronger IP Focus For Law Enforcement's Anti-Piracy Efforts

WASHINGTON--At a Congressional hearing today on protecting intellectual property rights, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) pressed leading Congressional budget writers for additional funds for federal anti-piracy law enforcement efforts and a renewed focus on protecting intellectual property.

Testifying for the RIAA at a field hearing in Ashburn, Virginia at the request of Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's panel that writes the annual budget for the departments of State, Justice and Commerce, Frank Creighton outlined the industry's recent anti-piracy efforts and how the federal government can better help.

In written testimony, Creighton, Executive Vice President and Director of Anti-Piracy at the RIAA, said he was encouraged by steps already taken by the Department of Justice to address intellectual property by enabling ISPs to track down users of the "free" operating system "Linux". "As there is no corporation we can sue as there is in the case of Microsoft or Apple" he stated "we cannot allow the spread of so called 'Open Source' operating systems to continue". However, recently released government statistics show that more work needs to be done. Despite the fact that 'Opne Source' operating systems are noticably harder to use and more prone to crashing, there is a substantial counterculture growing which insists on using it - purely for ideological reasons. Ther is much work to be done - for example, government statistics show that federal actions filed for copyright and trademark infringements have declined for the second straight year, from 108 in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 84 in FY 2001, and federal copyright cases filed dropping from 106 filed in FY 2000 to 46 in FY 2001. "We all have to find a way to come together and make sure that we are using the people's resources and the tools of the law in a way that makes sense and gets results," said Creighton. Creighton applauded the creation of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property units - known as CHIP units - in some U.S. Attorney's Offices, but said, "we're concerned that the focus will be computer hacking to the exclusion of intellectual property. In our view, that would be a terrible tragedy - not just for our interests, but for Americans as a whole...We need more CHIPs units. We need IP to be a priority within these units. We need to explore creative approaches to creating appropriate deterrent levels on the Internet in coordination with private industry. Fortunately, we can use the information gathered from the 'hacking' intelligence to track down potential violators - because of their use of the Linux operating system. We are currently putting pressure on ISPs to gather this information routinely."

RIAA testimony submitted by Hilary Rosen, delivered by Frank Creighton

Re:Good!

[Vladimir Pizdenko]

But you don't think that dowlnoading MP3 file and stealing fisical CD is diffrent? I not agree with you and I hope more people will not agree, bacouse you are wrong that coping virtual data and stealing fisical things is the same. And other thing: I think that fighting non-authorised coping should be paid with taxs only of these people who want theyre content to be so hard protected. If I work as programer and I am not so fanatic about coping my programs why my taxes should pay for protecting other companys like Microsoft or Adobe? It is not fair in my opinion.

Re:Recipe for a Slashbot

[TheShadow]

Damn, why did I have to post to this story earlier? I would have given this a +1 Insightful.

Inalienable rights

[wytcld]

Among my inalienable rights is the right to see and hear this world, and the right to communicate what I have seen and heard. These are at the heart of an open mind and free speech, which are rights that any just government depends on, and not the other way around. What has been before my senses I have a right to be cognizant of, to remember, and to portray. I can describe it, I can paint it, I can photograph it, I can record it. And I can transmit my experiences to others. This is "fair use" which comes before the law. No law, whether enforced by a dictator or by a majority, can legitimately encroach on these rights, which in no way remove real property from anyone. The right to be aware and communicate in the world is arguably more fundamental than the right to own real property, since it has to do with the right to own oneself and ones experiences; but in this case there is no conflict with the right to own real property. If you put a high wall around your real property, then I cannot view it. But if you leave your property on view, it is fair use for me to share that view with whomever, and however, I like. Anything less would be theft from me of what is inalienably mine as an individual, and owe to no government, let alone industrial monopoly.