H.R. 4279 Would Establish Federal IP Cops

MrSnivvel writes "H.R. 4279, Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, is gaining momentum in Congress. It passed the House a few days back. It would allow the Feds to seize hardware that has even one file coming from 'dubious origins,' e.g. downloaded from P2P. If passed into law, the bill would establish an Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the office of the Deputy Attorney General. Rep. John Conyers says the goal is to 'prioritize intellectual property protection to the highest level of our government.'"

Comments

Re:IP is the most important issue facing us in the

[bughunter]

NOW.. we can finally tackle the issue of downloading music and movies illegally, and impose death on those that do.

You're confusing the US Congress as a branch independant from the corporate branch.

For an intentionally hyperbolic look at how the criminalization of IP rights violations might be extended to extremes, have a go at the very dark cyberpunk dystopia depicted in K.W. Jeter's Noir. It's not the only theme in the novel, but it does at one point visit the bottom of the slippery slope that this bill embarks upon. Honestly, I'm surprised it's not more of a geek cult favorite, since it pokes [rather grim] fun at so many geeky political and social issues.

My /. review of this book is here. It's a bit florid, but that was in imitation of Jeter's style.