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File Trading Law Would Include 'Willing' Traders
mgessner writes "From InfoWorld comes a story on the U.S. House's approval of a new, tough law against trading files online. 'The bill expands the definition of file traders eligible for criminal penalties from individuals who 'willingly' distribute copyright files to those who 'knowingly' do so, an escalation that could result in jail time for file swappers.'" (The bill has yet to go through the Senate.)
I guess Granny won't be coming to Christmas this year.
:(
with boxes checked by default, and programs scanning ur hd's for stuff to share, how do they determine just where the thin line of knowingly and willingly is???
The GPL is a copyright so does this make it illegal to download opensource software?
Index
Summary
Text of legislation
Let's have:
people who illegally photocopy books go to jail
people who illegally perform plays and musical pieces go to jail
people who plagiarize or don't cite references go to jail
Hell let's just have anyone who says anything in a non-free speech zone go to jail.
We'll build large complexes to house all the file traders. Force them to attend some kind of "knowledge" classes, make them pay restitution, keep them up til all hours of the night studying how good societies act, how responsible citizens should act.
We'll ban all contraband and make sure we run them through a series of tests before letting them out.
Oh wait, I've done my time, it was called University!
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
Screw what the lawyers thing, we have technology to fight them. Try Freenet. It's mathematically impossible to determine what you're sharing! Try going to jail for sharing random bytes :-)
My other car is first.
From the article:
Detractors of the legislation claim that the measure would not stop the trading of copyright files and will not help the entertainment industry find a way to ensure artists get paid for the distribution of their works.
Well, what law has ever stopped a crime. Laws (theoretically) just reduce crime (but, obviously not in all cases).
Also, from the article:
"Putting downloaders behind bars, or decimating their college funds with civil lawsuits, won't put the genie of peer-to-peer technology back in the bottle or put real money in the pockets of real artists," P2P United's Eisgrau said in an e-mail interview with IDG News Service earlier this week.
This is the smartest thing I've read about file sharing in general to date.
P.S.: What is the difference between knowingly and willingly?
I have to be totally honest in asking WTF is going on with all this emphesis on file trading? Seriously, America has the single largest murder numbers in the western world (Larger then Canada's and Europes combined - excluding ww2) I think that there are far bigger issues that the US could do with addressing then kids getting some singles on the cheep (free)..
That said, how long until Europe decides to follow suit, well, if not Europe, England (who have their own version of the DMCA, have tried very hard to keep their copyright laws in step with the US etc etc)?
regards, the_leander
why I am glad that I do not live in America...
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
I suspect that those software engineers will set sail east across "the pond" in search of a land were they can have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Rights that many in our government are trying to take away [if you aren't "with them"]. We tried it over here, it worked for about 224 years and at last the western empire is starting to crumble.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Said person supposedly operating in ignorance could be given the benefit of the doubt with exactly _ONE_ warning, and given a finite interval (perhaps 2 weeks) in which to rectify the situation. Failure to comply within that interval would leave them without any excuse for not knowing they were distributing.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
That's interesting because everybody accepts cops setting up speed traps and using radar guns to catch speeders. And investigating murders and fraud in order to capture criminals. Yet we don't like the idea of an organization that would police the internet in order to stop the theft of music and movies. Without considering the state of the music and video industry, downloading mp3s and ripped movies without paying for them is illegal. Whether the laws need to be adjusted to allow copyrights to expire or prices to come down is beside the point. Right now these things are illegal, but no one advocates that policing the internet is a means to making it safer or more enriching.
-- i am jack's amusing sig file
You do realize, of course, that audio recordings were not copyrighted in the US before mid-1972, correct?
The problem isn't the people, it's the law. Trying to sell recorded copies of music in an era where music copying is simple and easy requires the construction of a police state. It's a ludicrous response to the issue. Making it a felony to share files will result in many congressmen and women losing their jobs. Not that that is a bad thing.
As if this law will stop anything - the US is becoming a nation of file leeches, since you only get busted for sharing, not downloading. I wonder when the 'Great Firewall of America' will be forthcoming?
The musician has to find a different means of marketing, basically. If there are fewer musicians in the future, well, I suspect the ones that go will be the ones that suck the worst in general, so that's no great loss. And before some musician or record company shill starts whining to me, I don't see a lot of people crying when my industry gets devastated by foreign outsourcing. Where's the 'Anti-Outsourcing Act of 2004'? Nowhere. So why are we protecting the content distribution industry? Beats me.
Threatening to throw people in jail for sharing files is akin to say, huge sentences for selling marijuana. We see how that problem got solved, right? Failing to learn from history dooms you to repeat it.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
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Because we all know that passing laws to make, say, speeding in cars, murder, fraud etc. illegal has put an end to all those activities.
And regular lawsuits against multiple people trading files online, including 12yo girls and grandparents who didn't even know that their grandkids had installed the software have worked too. But yep, a law will do the trick, heaven knows people won't break a law but are happy to risk financial ruin.What do we expect though? It seems that one business or another owns every member of Congress, "We the people" is now "We the corporations" as far as representation in Congress goes. *sigh*
is known to make party line stance on virtually all of the issues ever to encounter, that its hard to envisage this guy has ever in his life, thought for himself, used his god given intelligence to seperate himself (or others) from the party line rhetoric, or to atleast understand the laws he is responsible for passing in the house.
A few of his noted yes/no votes can shed a lot of light on where he stands on the issues:
(1)Voted YES on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror - Yes praying as a collective does help in cleansing terrorism.
(2)Voted YES on giving federal aid only to schools allowing voluntary prayer
(3)Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels - Wants to rely on Oil and dont want the Automobile industry to answer to better environmental standards.
(4)Voted NO on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, enough said!
(5)Voted YES on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects - Apparently want the rest of the US start looking like Texas (no offense).
(6)Voted YES on Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China - Yes, Cuba - BAD, China - GOOD!!
(7)Voted NO on $156M to IMF for 3rd-world debt reduction - Handouts are good when its to your automobile industry cronies and to big corporations, bad idea when its to third world countries.
(8)Voted NO on campaign finance reform banning soft-money contributions - No Finance Reform!! Period!
(9)Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1 - By God! Yes, we all know how excruciatingly painful it is to wait 3 days for appropriate checks to be made..
(10)Voted NO on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs - We really believe you should pay 20$ for that tylenol pill instead of 30 cents if you were importing it from Canada.
What pisses me off is that even if Kerry wins this November, the senate and the house under Republican control will end up making him an acting president and not a real one. Not that I think a Democrat controlled house and senate is any better. I just want politicians to really understand the bills they sign and talk to people who these laws ultimately affect.
Rapid Nirvana
Murder victims have little effect on corporate contributions.
This is a great example of the ways in which big business can manipulate government to its advantage.
It's perfectly within reason that copyright holders can sue, , in civil suits, to stop the unauthorized distribution of their works. Copyright violation is a matter between two parties: the copyright holder and the violator.
But with a law like this, the onus to police copyright matters falls on the government, and not the copyright holder.
What we're seeing is a push by big business, through legislation, to reduce their attorney fees. When copyright matters are criminal cases, not civil actions, the violators are punished-- justly or not-- at the expense of government, rather than at the expense of the corporation.
Hmm at this rate we'll soon have to put murderers, drug dealers, rapists, and terrorists out on the street to make room for all of the file swappers we're putting in jail! I know I'll feel a lot safer that way, and Britney will be able to sleep at night safe and secure in the knowledge that record company profits are secure!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
While I agree with you in that the punishment absolutely does not fit the crime, I believe it's a little narrow-minded to say that it's only "Right Wing Assholes" who are resposible for the entertainment industry's current stance on file trading, even if this one particular bill was sponsored by a Texas Democrat. Most of Hollywood and the various eMpTV voice pieces are overwhelming liberal (I'd say the term "Left Wing Assholes") applies. And BTW, does the name Fritz Hollings ring any bells?
Threatening to throw people in jail for sharing files is akin to say, huge sentences for selling marijuana.
I thought they still have huge sentences for selling marijuana. So, I suppose, they still think that solved that problem:-).
What Slashbots say they want and what they actually want are often very different, and often contradictory.
They insist that the GPL is a valid lisense and (rightfully) insist that it be respected and enforced. However they sing a very different tune (no pun intended) when it comes to copyrighted music.
The average Slashbot just doesn't want to pay for music, and will make any (other) argument to justify violating copyright law.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Any copyright enforcement bill needs the exception for Senators that use unlicensed software:
, 00 .html
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59305
Full bill details with summary and status info: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.R.4 077:
In Change the Law I point out that while the Constitution allows for Congress to enact copyright laws, it doesn't actually require it to do so. Copyright could be repealed tomorrow if we could get enough votes in Congress to do so.
If you don't think this could happen, consider that there are more Americans sharing files via peer-to-peer networks than voted for George Bush in 2000.
In my article I detail a number of steps you can take to bring about much needed copyright reform. My suggestions are that you:
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Speak Out
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Vote
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Write to Your Elected Representatives
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Donate Money to Political Campaigns
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Support Campaign Finance Reform
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Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Practice Civil Disobedience
If you feel as I do that more people need to read my article, you can help by linking to it from your website, weblog, or from other message boards.If you're a US citizen and 18 years of age or over, you can vote in November. But to do that, you must be registered to vote in your state. The voter registration deadline for most states is just a few days away, October 2nd for most states. So register today! Rock the Vote can help you with registration.
If you're a US citizen residing in a foreign country like me (I live in Canada), you can register to vote with the form you can obtain from the Federal Voting Assistance Program. You can register to vote in the last state you resided in in the US. But again, your registration must be received by your state by the deadline, so either express your application, or fax it, if a fax number is available.
(If you've never lived in the US, but one of your parents was a US citizen, then you're a US citizen too and you can register in the last state your parent resided in.)
If you want to make a campaign donation, a good choice would be Representative Rick Boucher. Rick Boucher has worked tirelessly for copyright reform, as you can see from his article Time to rewrite the DMCA.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
Only public property is considered a free-speech zone really...and even then it only applies to the government...not individuals (which is beside the point you are making). If you are in my house and use language I don't approve of I can have you removed because I own the property (actually I would ask you to leave first...then have you removed if you didn't comply).
Real (as opposed to personal...i.e. land ownership) property rights are what should trump everything else.
Unfortunatly these rights are being eroded as well. Thst is why "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happyiness" used to be "life, liberty, and property".
Vote the peeps out of office that erode these rights already!
A good read for those interested.
How the music biz can live forever, get even richer, and be loved
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
In Bush's America, Laws Break You!
[/would be funny if it weren't true]
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
The music executives. And the people they bribe. And maybe their investors. That is who you are hurting. You are easily knocking them down to the top 2% of the wealthy instead of the top 1%. You greedy bastard.
Why are there only 19 people folding@home for slashdot?
That's interesting because everybody accepts cops setting up speed traps and using radar guns to catch speeders.
Well, you don't do time when you are caught speeding. Which is even more psychotic because driving dangerously can actually get people killed whereas pirating music could potentially lose someone a tiny amount of money.
Just what we need. More stupid fucking laws keeping more Americans in jail per capita than any other country in the world.
"Land of the Free" is the biggest bullshit line I've ever heard/read.
The U.S. government pays me to do research on reactive chemistry. I am required to move very large files across networks. I am afraid that this movement of files might be misconstrued as illegal file sharing by corporations that can put me in jail. Is it important for me to continue doing research for the government that also may allow corporations to accuse me of file sharing based solely on large amounts of local area network traffic?
The answer is that I should probably quit using a computer in order to preserve my status as a non-felon.
Can you imagine how boring sports would be if there were only two teams? They'd each tailor their offense against the one other team's defense. There would be only slight innovation as each reacted to counter the other.
Now look at the two party system. What gets argued about? Big vs. really big government, higher vs. much higher taxes, barely distinguishable environmental policies, ad nauseum. They keep the voters focused on issues that polarize them but aren't much acted upon in the end (or are very similar in position).
If you're in a swing state, by all means vote Kerry rather than your preferred candidate, as I absolutely agree that while Kerry is bad, Bush is far, far worse and vastly more dangerous.
However, if you're not in a swing state, vote however you want, for more than the presidency is determined by your vote. Votes for third parties increase their campaign funding, ballot access and perceived credibility.
Freedom to fear. Freedom from thought. Freedom to kill.
I guess the War on Terror really is about freedom!