Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Congress May Outlaw 'Attempted Piracy'

Posted by Zonk on from the i-see-what-you-were-trying-to-do-there dept.

cnet-declan writes "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is asking Congress to make 'attempted' copyright infringement a federal crime. The text of the legislation as well as the official press-release is available online. Rep. Lamar Smith, a key House Republican, said he 'applauds' the idea, and his Democratic counterpart is probably on board too. In addition, the so-called Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 would create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software in some circumstances, expand the DMCA with civil asset forfeiture, and authorize wiretaps in investigations of Americans who are 'attempting' to infringe copyrights. Does this go too far?"

5 of 768 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why does the law punish attempts at all? by toleraen · · Score: 5, Funny

    If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

  2. Re:Lifetime Crime by miskatonic+alumnus · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know ... distributing Gigli and Battlefield Earth might be a start.

  3. Re:Why does the law punish attempts at all? by Vraylle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ineptitude, or possibly a short attention span?

    --
    Mutant Freaks of Nature: "Frighteningly Addictive"
  4. Oblig. Simpsons reference by kristoferkarlsson · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sideshow Bob: Attempted murder, now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?

  5. Re:Why does the law punish attempts at all? by TheLetterPsy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ummm, manganese dioxide is a metal oxide, not a salt. Salts are ionic.

    A metal oxide with a deadly weapon still sounds pretty scary, though.