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U.S. Declares War on Intellectual Property Theft

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-get-them dept.

bblazer writes "Reuters is running a story about a new US effort to stop intellectual property theft. From the article "The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday outlined what it called its most sweeping crackdown on bootleg DVDs, fake designer goods, illegal music downloads and counterfeit drugs." It also goes on to say that media (movies and music) is highly affected, but so are products like batteries, baby food and Viagra."

5 of 643 comments (clear)

  1. And legality? by metlin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    RIAA estimates that $2.6 billion worth of revenues are lost and the like through file-sharing - so what are they going to do about it?

    Sue a kid in China or India for it? Unlikely, I think.

    1. Re:And legality? by Pxtl · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Hahah, did you not pay attention to the news? There were 10 million votes counted. That does not mean 10 million voters when you've a country with a slap-dashed voting infrastructure. The situation was so messy that Karzai was actually endorsing people to vote as many times as they wanted, rather than risk losing the multiple-voters' support. Voter registration slips were on the black market.

    2. Re:And legality? by EllisDees · · Score: 4, Interesting

      >Wow, someone is actually arguing that heroin is not addictive to most users? Geez, never though I'd see the day.

      It's not. The vast majority of people who try heroin never become addicted. If you think that it is, provide some evidence to back it up.

      http://www.users.on.net/~rmc/drugs.htm

      "Research made unwillingly by the U.S. Army on its Vietnam War veterans showed that nearly half used heroin (95% pure), 7% of those stayed on it on return to the U.S.A. with only 1% of these being addicted. The research was forced on the U.S. Army because many soldiers claimed disability pensions on the grounds that heroin addiction is permanent and disqualifies the user from any sort of productive life. Originally the heroin was smoked until Authority clamped down and it became more cost-effective to inject.

      The addiction rate for social ALCOHOL drinkers is 10% with another 5% "at risk". ("Addiction" is when stopping taking the drug leads to withdrawal symptoms not present before taking it. e.g. alcohol "Dependence" is when cessation means just returning to the previous status quo e.g. insulin.)"

      >Let me put it plain and simple for you: if you try heroin once, you probably have a 75% chance of trying it a second time...

      Honestly, are you getting your facts from a DARE bumper sticker, or what?

      --
      -- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
  2. Re:It Will Never Work, And Here's Why by syberanarchy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Something I didn't think of before, but really illustrates my point:

    These "IP" laws have really become like the speed laws. Your driver instructor tells you that yes, you can get fined, etc. for going 5 over the speed limit, or for putting the hood of your car over the white stop bar at traffic lights. But in reality, how much does this happen? (and spare me your "I live in a hick town where the one cop in town has a vendetta against my family so yes it happens" tales.)

    Likewise, who ever gets sued for downloading a single mp3? How long will it take them to sue everyone? How long will it take them to sue enough folks to make anyone care? Will anyone care? The way I see it, I have about 8000 songs on my PC. Assuming I were a dirty pirate, and assuming they were all illegally aquired, if the RIAA came after me and demanded a 5000 dolalr settlement, I'd actually view myself as getting a pretty cheap deal, as opposed as to if I had gone through iTunes, etc.

    They can't slap casual swappers with the "max fines" they advertise (250k per work,) because it would cause outrage. They're damned if they do, damned if they don't. I don't envy the RIAA at this point!

  3. Re:It Will Never Work, And Here's Why by Vicsun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    60 million people are a lot of people, but as many large numbers it's hard to conceptualize. To put it in contrast, in 2000 George 'Dubya' Bush got 50,456,002 votes (source: Wikipedia ). Does that mean there are more criminals walking the streets than people who voted for the president?
    When there are so many people breaking a law, isn't it time to revise the law, rather than futilely try to enforce it?