PRO-IP Act Passes Judiciary Committee

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The Pro-IP Act has passed the Judiciary Committee unanimously, thanks to the support of committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). We've discussed this before — it's the same bill which would create copyright cops with the power to seize computers, when powers like that have been systematically abused in other areas. But, apparently, they think the bill is just wonderful now, simply because they cut the provision that would've increased statutory damages while keeping the rest. This is the same bill that William Patry called the 'most outrageously gluttonous IP bill ever introduced in the US.'" While we're on the subject of intellectual property, Canadian law professor Michael Geist gave a talk on Monday about "copyright myths."

Comments

Re:I'm sure this won't get abused

[CSMatt]

Wow. Godwin's Law invoked in the first post.

Re:The copyright cops have to follow due process a

[cpt kangarooski]

Not all copyright infringement is a crime, but some is. See 17 USC 506 and 18 USC 2319. N.b. that some copyright infringement has been criminalized since the late 19th century, in the US, so it's not a new thing.