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Making The Justice Dept. A Copyright Busybody

Posted by timothy on from the too-late dept.

poptones writes "The Senate Judiciary committee has just approved four new bills relating to IP law in the U.S. A couple of them provide some much needed reforms for the patent process including raising fees, raising fees more for those who most use the system, and providing discounts for small entities (who'da thunk?)" According to poptones, "Unfortunately, all is not good" -- read on below to see how the RIAA and MPAA stand to gain from one of these bills in particular.

This bill, put forward by your friends and mine, Msrs. Leahy and Hatch, would task the JD with filing civil actions against "pirates" - essentially putting your tax dollars to work bringing civil actions against college students in the name of the very largest Copyright holders, allowing them even more spare pocket change to spend lobbying to restrict your already shrinking online freedoms. A choice snippet from the floor: "For too long, Federal prosecutors have been hindered in their pursuit of pirates, by the fact that they were limited to bringing criminal charges with high burdens of proof..."

And it gets better: "In the long run, I believe that we must find better mechanisms to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens--our children--are not being constantly tempted to infringe the copyrights that have made America a world leader in the production of creative works." Hold on to your wallets folks, they're telling us to "think of the children" again..."

6 of 381 comments (clear)

  1. Children? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Troll

    Fuck the children.

  2. Mirror , just in case by pigscanfly.ca · · Score: 0, Troll

    Just in case the server crashes and burns (like they usually do),I have put up a mirror.
    The mirror of http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthoma s.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2Fbdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.02237 %3A&siteId=3&oId=2110-1028-5203059&ontId=1023&lop= nl_ex is at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_5/dw.com.com/redir% 3fdestUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthomas.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2F bdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.02237%3A&amp%3bsiteId=3&amp %3boId=2110-1028-5203059&amp%3bontId=1023&amp%3blo p=nl_ex
    The mirror of http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthoma s.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2Fbdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.01932 %3A&siteId=3&oId=2110-1028-5203059&ontId=1023&lop= nl_ex is at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_5/dw.com.com/redir% 3fdestUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthomas.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2F bdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.01932%3A&amp%3bsiteId=3&amp %3boId=2110-1028-5203059&amp%3bontId=1023&amp%3blo p=nl_ex
    The mirror of http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthoma s.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2Fbdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3Ah.r.015 61%3A&siteId=3&oId=2110-1028-5203059&ontId=1023&lo p=nl_ex is at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_5/dw.com.com/redir% 3fdestUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthomas.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2F bdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3Ah.r.01561%3A&amp%3bsiteId=3&a mp%3boId=2110-1028-5203059&amp%3bontId=1023&amp%3b lop=nl_ex
    The mirror of http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthoma s.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2Fbdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.02192 %3A&siteId=3&oId=2110-1028-5203059&ontId=1023&lop= nl_ex is at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_5/dw.com.com/redir% 3fdestUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fthomas.loc.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2F bdquery%2Fz%3Fd108%3As.02192%3A&amp%3bsiteId=3&amp %3boId=2110-1028-5203059&amp%3bontId=1023&amp%3blo p=nl_ex
    The mirror of http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.022 37: is at http://mirrorit.demonmoo.com/r_5/thomas.loc.gov/cg i-bin/bdquery/z%3fd108%3As.02237%3A

    1. Re:Mirror , just in case by pigscanfly.ca · · Score: 0, Troll

      Just in case dudes like you accused me of "karma whoring" I have disabled my Karma Bonus on all of my mirror posts (from my shoddy understanding of the slashdot moderation system that means not only does it not start out at 2, but the moderation of said comments doesnt affect my karma).
      Also the mirror thing isnt getting boring , its actually getting more interesting, (namely I'm now going to go do some performance tunning to see if I can get it to handle more...)
      Hava a nice day :-)

  3. Re:Let the endless arguement begin. Good vs Evil by cyberlotnet · · Score: 0, Troll

    Ahh but that defines the taking of solid objects and was put in webster before computers even existed.

    If I take a copy of microsofts source code home and put it on the internet not only can I be fined for possible losses but even jail time is possible if they can prove my intent to defraud them.

    --
    Personal Website
  4. Re:Let the endless arguement begin. Good vs Evil by cyberlotnet · · Score: 0, Troll

    Hey moron. The post was not about the rights or wrongs of the laws passed.

    It was about us supporting RIAA's movement by performing, supporting, and telling people to do the acts they say we are doing.

    --
    Personal Website
  5. Re:You are missing the point by geckofiend · · Score: 0, Troll
    Why on earth should that land anyone in jail?

    Because maybe you'd think twice about doing it if you actually thought there might be a consequence to you actions?