'Pirate Act' Would Shift Copyright Civil Suits To DoJ

mammothboy writes "News.com.com has a story about the new so-called Pirate Act, which seeks to allow federal prosecuters to file civil suits against file swappers. These lawsuits can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, and if you guessed that the RIAA is lobbying for it, you're right. What's scary is how fast and how quiet its march through the legislative process has been. In '97, the No Electronic Theft Act allowed for criminal lawsuits, but none have been filed, so isn't it clear that the Justice Department has better stuff to deal with?" There actually have been some prosecutions filed under the NET Act, but not many. Update: 05/26 18:51 GMT by T : Declan McCullagh (author of the linked News.com story) writes to clarify: "FYI there have been prosecutions under the NET Act, as you say. But there have not been any of P2P users. That's why the Senate is doing this."

Comments

A good day for starving artists.

[grub]

As a member of Citizens United against Network Thievery, let me be the first to jump for joy. For too long musicians and movie moguls have resorted to smaller mansions, some with empty garage spots, as wanton piracy has hurt sales of their reasonably priced products. This rampant hooliganism must be stopp... ed.. whoa... what's this square of blotter paper doing in my coffee?

Re:A good day for starving artists.

[Flagella]

Arrr I'm a PIRATE. I Protect Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation arrrr. /me Walks the plank.

Arrr!

[Rhesus Piece]

Being a swashbuckler myself, I find the name
"Pirate Act" to be highly inaccurate.

It's copyright infringement.
Piracy is a different matter altogether.
Anybody can download a song, but it takes
quite a bit more daring to pilage at a professional
level.

Arrr.

We need Falafel

[happyfrogcow]

FALAFEL:

Federal Assistance for Limiting the use of Acronyms For Evil Legislation.

Looks like the US Government...

[Luminari]

Finally jumped the shark.