Controversial Section of PRO-IP Act Cut

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Rep. Berman (D-CA) has removed the controversial section 104 from his PRO-IP Act. That section would have multiplied the already excessive statutory damages for infringement in the case of compilations, making the damages for infringing upon the copyrights of a single average CD rise into the millions of dollars. This change came after proponents of the amendment were unable to cite even one case where the statutory damages recovered were insufficient. But don't let the article fool you into thinking that the PRO-IP Act is no longer controversial now that this one section is gone, the act still creates copyright cops who are authorized to seize people's computers."

Comments

Good example.

[palegray.net]

This is a good example of the fact that both major parties play these games with our civil liberties. As much time as people spend bashing the Republican party over privacy invasion and big business backroom deals, it's good to remember that the Democrats play the same games every day. Perception is a funny thing.

Re:Time for the old Dead Man's Switch

[hedwards]

Passwords, pass phrases and keys are, for better or worse, considered to be protected by the 5th amendment.

Unless law enforcement or the copyright holder can crack the security on it, there is no way that they can compel a person to hand over the files at this point.

Re:Copyright Cops Maintaining an environment of fe

[Arterion]

Fear is the Antichrist

I thought fear was the mind-killer.

This should be alarming

[sltd]

They're beginning to make compromises. With this controversial section removed, it's just that much closer to becoming a law, which is bad for everyone.