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New Congressional Bill Makes DMCA Look Tame

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the things-that-make-you-go-hmmm dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Representative Lamar Smith is sponsoring the Intellectual Property Protection Act. The new bill is designed to give the Justice Department 'tools to combat IP crime' which which are used to 'quite frankly, fund terrorism activities,' according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Among the provisions is lowering the standards for 'willful copyright violation' and increasing the corresponding prison term to 10 years." More information is also available at publicknowledge.org.

18 of 895 comments (clear)

  1. Thank you Lamar (What an appropriate name) by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Lamar Smith, Christian Scientist, hater of immigrants & proud possessor of one of the stupidest middle names eve (Seeligson).

    Reading Open Secret's page about him, you see the usual line up of Legal firms, Content & Tech companies. Just the people who stand to benefit from this legislation the most.

    I really don't understand why people vote for politicians who are bought & sold so easily (and cheaply).

    --
    There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    1. Re:Thank you Lamar (What an appropriate name) by NiceGeek · · Score: 5, Informative

      Still wrong - from the TFA:
      "The draft legislation, created by the Bush administration and backed by Rep. Lamar Smith"

      note - CREATED BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.

    2. Re:Thank you Lamar (What an appropriate name) by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Informative

      But Democratic legislators do break away from the party line more often than Republican ones do. This is a simple fact, easily verified by a look at voting records.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  2. Fund terrorism? by reldruH · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why is it that every time a politician wants to get something passed that's obviously not going to be good, they do it because it 'funds terrorism'? Next thing you know politicians are going to fund some study saying that open source funds terrorism.

    Oh, wait...

    --
    I've always pictured the color of OS zealotry as a sort of bright flamingo pinkish hue
  3. How to control the populace by Bushcat · · Score: 5, Informative

    1) Write laws that will catch everyone sometime.
    2) Trawl for lawbreakers at your leisure.
    3) Pick 'em up when it's suitable.
    Someone needs a whack with a cluestick. It's not the way to run a (decent) country.

  4. Re:Amerika by bri2000 · · Score: 3, Informative
    I wouldn't. For all its whining about US cultural imperialism when it comes to IP law the EU will, I believe, ultimately always follow the US's lead. Since once it's passed in the US it's much easier for the IP companies to lobby and demand that the EU needs similar measures in the name of "harmonisation" and "a level playing field", and the more Americaphile member's of the EU (like Blair) are lobbied by US officials directly.

    Sure, the constitution's dead (for now, I'm sure once the French domestic situation has calmed down a bit they'll get it through somehow) but that doesn't stop our equivalent of the DCMA, the IP directive passed last year being in full force and effect. While the EU may be reeling from the blows of last year it's still very powerful and, because of the lack of democratic accountability, it's far easier for lobbyists to get their own way in Brussels even when individual nations may strongly reject specific proposals.

  5. One good example by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ross Perot got a small fraction of the vote but suddenly everyone cared about the deficit (his pet issue) and we eventually got a balanced budget.

    1. Re:One good example by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Informative

      19% isn't a "small fraction", particularly in light of the power that the two major parties wield.

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
  6. Re:kill the pig! kill the pig! kill the pig! by Fat+Idiot · · Score: 4, Informative

    Small point. While there is much to despise Thatcher for, this isnt one. VAT was introduced in the UK in 1973 as a replacement for sales tax. At that time Thatcher was education secretary. She didnt become PM till 79.

  7. From Wikipedia... by babbling · · Score: 5, Informative

    Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 1883 - 28 April 1945) led Italy from 1922 to 1943. He created a Fascist state through the use of state terror and propaganda. Using his charisma, total control of the media, and intimidation of political rivals, he disassembled the existing democratic government system.

    ... sound familiar?

    1. Re:From Wikipedia... by LearnToSpell · · Score: 4, Informative

      Undoing mods to post this, but oh well...

      He has a Ph.D. in political science, making him, yes, both a doctor and a political scientist.

      --
      Haida Manga
  8. Re:Anybody else upset. by azhrei_fje · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wrong acronym for the organization. Instead, it's SIIA (Software Information & Industry Association), but you're right -- Mark Webbink from RedHat is the chairman of the board! Time for me to write some letters and make a phone call or two...

    http://www.siia.net/membership/board.asp

  9. Re:kill the pig! kill the pig! kill the pig! by GrahamCox · · Score: 3, Informative

    Maggy Thatcher introduced Value Added Tax

    Errr... nope. VAT came in in 1973, long before Her Maggiesty.

  10. Skipping ads would be illigal if this were passed by Devistater · · Score: 5, Informative

    Good ole Philips. They musta snuck this in
    From the http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/hr2391 link, it lists all the stuff thats been shoved into this monstrosity. I just spotted this:

    "H.R. 4586 The Family Movie Act
    Now, the affirmative right to watch and skip parts of the content that a consumer has legally obtained only exists if certain conditions are met: no commercial or promotional ads may be skipped. ... This sets the functionality of the everyday VCR and TiVo on its head."

    So now Philips has it all set, they have that patented technology to prevent ad skipping, and this will make it ILLIGAL to skip ads. Nice.

  11. Re:Bought and sold so cheaply by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Informative

    the more favours they do when holding office, the bigger the pot they will have when the time comes to defend their seat.

    Nowadays that's called "campaign contribution", but once upon a time I remember that being called "bribery".

    --
    Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
  12. I'm just waiting by Talinom · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have found nothing on Lamar Smith's webpage.

    It is too new to show up on the THOMAS (Library of Congress) website. Oh, wait. It hasn't been introduced yet.

    H.R. 2391 only comes up as the Safe Communities and Safe Schools Mercury Reduction Act of 2005.

    That said if TFA is accurate then it will be something I oppose and will write to my state Rep about.

    --
    "Giving money and power to governments is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke
  13. What the heck is it about Texans? by rnturn · · Score: 3, Informative

    G. W. Bush, Tom DeLay, Lamar, Cornin, Gonzales... not to mention the folks from Enron ('member, Ken Lay is connected politically to these clowns) ... the list goes on. It's gotten so you have a better than even chance if you say "Lemme guess, he's a Texan, right?" whenever you hear of some lame-brained idea coming out of a politician.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  14. Call Lamar Smith's Office Now! (Number Enclosed) by verisof · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just read the bill and was disgusted by what I saw. Like most of us here at Slashdot, I work in the IT field and have had way too many brushes with Homeland Security demanding data they have no right to get just because they want it. Our civil liberties are getting gobbled up and we, as Americans, are letting them do it.

    So, everyone on here, PLEASE call Joseph Gibson, Lamar Smith's Chief of Staff at (202) 225-4236. Call him TODAY. He told me that NO ONE had bothered to call them regarding this bill. That I was the FIRST person who had actually talked to him about how heinous some of the provisions are in this bill. Make sure you actually read the Bill before you call so you can make your intelligent objections. Otherwise, we all come across like a bunch of people who just want to rip off IP from other people. And make sure you tell them that you are vehemently opposed to this bill and will raise public awareness about the loss of our Fair Use rights.

    I spent a lot of time talking to the Mr. Gibson about the Sony Betamax ruling with regard to Fair Use rights and how Business would have missed out on the multi-billion dollar video industry if they hadn't lost that case. Also, about how creating legislation to keep a monopolistic cartel (RIAA & MPAA) in a position of power is ANTI-free market. (Businesses in a free market have to adapt to survive, I certainly know that I have to play by those rules. . . .)

    Other things we can do include:

    • Sending emails out to everyone we know to contact the Congressman's office. Let's flood his office with emails, phone calls & letters.
    • Contact the news desk at your local newspapers and make sure that they are covering this item. It makes for good copy if they actually KNOW about it.
    • Do anything you make the NON-geeks out there understand the rights they lose with this bill. How would they like it if music ripping software was illegal and they could no longer put the music from their LEGALLY PURCHASED CD's on their iPods?
    • Also take the time to write a letter. Every one letter represents 1,000 constituents who have the same problems, but just couldn't find the time to write.

    Also, please Mod this reply up to make sure that people GET THE MESSAGE. Thanks!!!