FTC P2P Deadline For Public Comments

octalgirl writes "The FTC hosted 'Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Technology: Consumer Protection and Competition Issues' workshop is in December, but public comments are due by tomorrow (Nov 15th). If you have something to say about the how P2P file sharing is used today or ways it might be used in the future, get your 2 cents in now. You know the RIAA/MPAA certainly will. Guidelines for submitting are in the Federal Register Notice"

Comments

Late again

[Rares Marian]

Call me crazy, but why is this information coming up at the last minute. It always seems to happen with opportunities for comment.

Do we need to start giving out bounties to the first 100 people to find out about an important issue? And second stage bounhties to the first 1000 to inform another 100 each?

Re:My 2 cents....

[Arngautr]

Or maybe everyone is 'posting' where it matters, as per the article... Well maybe not, but I can always hope .. that is until they craft some overly broad legislation to crack down on "electronic file transfers," to only be selectively applied.

What I sent them:

[cbr2702]

Regulating p2p software won't work because it is impractical. The software itself is not very complex to write, and there are lots of projects with the source-code to their applications available (giFT, shareaza, dctc, bitTorrent and others). Control of these is impractical because they are not made by companies, but by individuals working in their spare time.

Control of these is also undesireable because legitimate uses of file-sharing technology are becomming more common. Linux cd-images are regularly distibuted by bitTorrent. Artists who release their work under Creative Commons liscenses use these systems to get their work out and known. Copyright law already provides recourse for copyright holders, and regulating p2p software would hurt legitimate users as well as copyright violators.