U.S. Declares War on Intellectual Property Theft

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."

Comments

Re:And legality?

[jkabbe]

Are you suggesting that the government stop trying to aprehend and prosecute hard drug users/dealers?

The problem is that when the US government declares war on something the penalties grow to be grossly out of proportion with the actual harm caused.

Re:And legality?

[lynx_user_abroad]

declare war on it, that always works.

Bush/Chainey in 04! Four More Wars! ;-)

What's will you, people?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait a minute!

Drugs and terror kill people. They do. Go see Trainspotting. Go try and offend a fanatical religious man with a bug gun. I would actually like to see a war on caffeine or a war on cigarettes. Caffeine makes me hyperactive, I love it, I am addicted. I need help, probably.

"Intellectual Property Theft" - This is not just ridiculous, that is scary. With software patents - all programming companies conduct said thing! Every individual that has ever used a computer is probably guilty. Worldwide, according to US standards (I do NOT live in the US, and I am planning to avoid that, unless Microsoft hire me as a codemonkey). IP Theft can and does mean anything in the court of law. If you have no money to pay for^H^H^H^H^H^H^H defend yourself, you are guilty. So, there, they can pinpoint any one walking down the street and throw him/her in prison. Brilliant. And you cannot defend yourself, because, technically, you *are* guilty.

I have never had a real gun in my hand, and I am planning not to ever touch one. I have never used any drugs, and I am planning never to do so. I have never even tried smoking. With the help of God (I am a believing eastern-orthodox Christian) I will continue doing so. BUT I HAVE BROKEN THE SO-CALLED IP LAWS MANY, MANY TIMES! I the scary thing is, I do not see that as a problem! Now what? Go turn myself in? What about the millions of others out there? Switch to Linux? Avoid listening to radio (you know, some radio stations do pirate music, at least where I live)? Not write a single program in my life? FUCK THAT!

Let me get this straight...

[Guppy06]

IP rights are not natual rights but are, at least in the US, something explicitly granted to them by Congress on behalf of the American people (or so the line of reasoning goes). This isn't about any "rights" covered in the Declaration of Independence or in the Bill of Rights, just something covered by such a short blurb as:

The Congress shall have Power To... promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

And now, when it seems the people are in agreement that the current terms are noxious enough to justify circumventing Congress' definition of copyrights, government's solution isn't to listen to the will of the electorate but to decare war on them? Whatever happened to this "tyranny of the majority" I keep on hearing about?

Creators or their publishers don't have a natural right to copyright, they are granted that right by the people, under terms agreed to by the people. Exactly what right do they have to claim "it's not enough?"

Yay for being militant!

[indros13]

Anyone else notice that the US doesn't just try to solve problems, it declares war on them?

• War on Poverty
• War on Drugs
• War on Terror
• War on Nasty Tyrant with Dubious Connections to Actual Terrorists
• War on Intellectual Poverty Theft

No wonder the armed forces are stretched thin...