Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
I cannot pretend to understand US politics... but I guess if something can sum up capatalism it's this story's summary.
now we know what the next war will be about...
Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
hehehehehe,
I'm so glad I live in the UK! Oh wait....
"I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion! I want every man, woman and child to understand how close we are to chaos! I want everyone to remember why they need us!"
So if a computer has anything they got from p2p, then the cops can confiscate their computers? So if, say, a cop doesn't like someone's politics, ethnicity, race, sexuality or gender and that cop knows the person plays WoW, they can confiscate the person's computer with no possible recourse for the victim? Sure a charge won't come from it, but they get to make life annoying for that person.
"Specifically, federal civil law would be amended to: (1) provide a safe harbor for copyright registrations that contain inaccurate information so such technical errors would not prevent a judgment for infringement;" Excuse me? So if you lie when registering for copyright, the registration is still valid? Or does this imply that an inaccurate registration would not prevent a judgment for infringement that could have taken place if copyright was not explicitly registered at all (something that would already be the case, unless I am mistaken). The amendments to section 410 do not make it clear exactly how this will be any different.
for fscks sakes, ideas are not property!
if you steal property, the original owner loses something.
if you steal an idea, the original owner loses nothing.
someone, please, get these asswipes out of office. either the ballot box or ammo box will do.
-I only code in BASIC.-
It is true. IP is the most important issue facing us in America. We have solved all of our problems. The oil crisis is solved, healthcare rates are affordable and healthcare service is impeccable. Its so nice to see that we really do not need alternative energy and that our economy is providing everyone a comfortable life style where only a single parent can work while the other parent raises the children. Education is more solid than ever. We are raising a nation of math wizards capable of programming in asm on the spot. Our government is finally loyal to the American citizen and corruption has been eradicated.
NOW.. we can finally tackle the issue of downloading music and movies illegally, and impose death on those that do.
I'm proud to be an American today. So proud.
from http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2003/06/59305
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) suggested Tuesday that people who download copyright materials from the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed.
But Hatch himself is using unlicensed software on his official website, which presumably would qualify his computer to be smoked by the system he proposes.
The senator's site makes extensive use of a JavaScript menu system developed by Milonic Solutions, a software company based in the United Kingdom. The copyright-protected code has not been licensed for use on Hatch's website.
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
How do you verify that a file is or is not pirated, exactly? And whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?
For that matter, do those reps think that this will make law enforcement give one whit about people stealing albums? They already have enough to deal with in terms of real crime, and they're going to utterly ignore this anyway.
I want people to know how bad copyright really is and the only way to get it through their thick heads is for the law to be enforced to the letter.
Sooner or later the US will wake the fuck up.
How we know is more important than what we know.
destroyed of all things ! I personally think they should explode and kill all the occupants of the premises where said hardware is located. Or maybe geotargetting coupled with a tactical nuke or so, sure the collateral damage would be large, but nothing is too much in protecting that precious IP.
I've often wondered if an intelligence test before a vote would be a good thing and I've decided against that, but such a test administered before being able to take public office would be a very good thing.
MP3 Search Engine
There's no reason to seize property without evidence of a crime and a warrant. Copyright infringement is a civil matter -- but downloaders aren't even necessarily distributing.
Good to see elected officials once again bowing to the wishes of the trabant factories.
Clearly America isn't a democracy, a republic, or any of those other pretty labels any more.
I move for the new designation of "Corporate Plutocracy".
Can I get a second for the motion?
It's interesting that all the moonbats screaming POLICE STATE!!! over in the Kucinich thread are all missing from this one. Consider that the bill is sponsored by a Democrat, and has passed a Democrat majority House.
If there's any law I've seen recently that qualifies as police state, this is one.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
WHY has this become so entrenched with the upper echelons of the US Government? WHAT has this got to do with Congress, and indeed the Government in general? It's a legal issue, but not something that needs further governing by bogus departments created by the corrupt hands of the Bush era. It's sickening.
ilovegeorgebush
Even if it weren't a heinous offense against decency, this bill must die for having another goddamn ridiculous acronym!
Civil asset forfeiture laws are the antithesis of capitalism. They are a means by which the state can seize any property it wants simply by finding some nebulous connection to a crime. Did you know that YOU don't even have to be the one accused of the crime? They can do all sorts of fun things like seize your car if your friend borrowed it, while you thought he was going to the store to buy a case of beer, and he really used to it to drive to a drug user's house to sell drugs. This sort of thing is entirely Fascist in its economics (you did know that Fascism is a collectivist economic system as well as a political one, right?)
You forgot: you've also won the wars on terror and drugs.
Everybody get in here! Your senators know that every person who actually writes represents thousands of voters.
Only a lawyer could follow the logic that was used to uphold them. The judges, aka lawyers with power to determine the law's enforcement, ruled that since YOU aren't the one being accused (your property is) YOU have no due process right except to claim your property IFF you can prove that the property really wasn't used in the crime that the government is alleging. Doesn't matter if someone else hijacked your property to do it!
Any normal human being can look at the logic of civil asset forfeiture laws and realize that it is literally a legitimization of armed robbery by the government.
In the US the database of law as it applies in practice - the rulings whether a law is valid or not; whether a law can be applied to a particular circumstance - is itself a work protected under copyright.
I can think of no better argument against copyright than it prevents citizens from knowing what the law is.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
If IP is ideas, which are thoughts.... this would make them thought police?
This is not the funny you're looking for.
Don't get me started on Hatch. I am so tired of him as our elected official. The guy's been there for over 30 year, and that instantly puts him on my hate list because of how much I am against the principle of "Career-politicians." But he's never going to leave, because we just love our incumbents here. The guy doesn't even live in our state! He has a house in Virginia, and only comes to Utah to raise funds for re-election. What an asshole. /rant
"Thank you for using Stop-n-Drop, America's favorite suicide booth since 2008"
"prioritize intellectual property protection to the highest level of our government"
Yep, we have our priorities right. With all the famine, high energy prices, wars, natural disasters, etc, we know that IP rights must be the highest priority, to keep that money flowing into congress. Getting that pocket lined is more important then feeding people.
Kick them all out, they are no longer serving the citizens as they are mandated to do by the constitution. Its a breech of contract of their oath of office.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I know you're being facetious, but selling an inferior drug under the name of the biggest competitor is technically an IP violation (a trademark one). Personally I think it should be a case of fraud and treating it as a trademark issue is simply ridiculous.
The knock-on effect on the rest of the first world cannot be denied. When the U.S. comes up with a ding-bat solution to IP like this, then we are all doomed together because it will filter down through international treaties and trade agreements.
Freeing up IP is essential for making health, education and the energy market cheaper and more universal. In the last 5 to 10 years, first world governments have been 'pulling up the ladder' in this regard rather than opening up to the people. It's almost as though they are anticipating something.
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
I have never been so proud of being an EU citizen. We fine big companies, we support open standards and we can live without fear from being arrested because of some rhianna songs our kids might have downloaded. How stupid is that? You once were a country that emerged from a revolution. Embrace your past and make sure your leaders know you're not happy. God Bless the EU.
Nice try, but all work produced by the government is public domain. The only way your point is valid is if a private corporation produced this law and didn't put it into the public domain.
From now on, I'm leasing my hardware.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm confused, is the Boy Scouts of America a bunch of commercial pirates?
And on the badge - Don Quixote attacking the windmills.
Move to Norway :-)
1) Oil-crisis ? What crisis ? We export shitload of oil and are steeenking rich as a result.
2) Healthcare costs money ? Guess so, never saw a bill (see 1) (universal healthcare)
3) Energy ? We get 95% of our electric power from hydroelectric already, planning to be completely carbon-neutral as a country in a decade or two.
4) Comfortable lifestyle ? Flipping burgers earns you $12/hour or thereabouts here, and unemployment is like 2% perhaps, so got that pretty much covered. (the main unemployed are -unemployabe- more than unemployed; if you are incapable of showing up at work, the problem ain't with the economy: it's with you!)
Did I mention we've got hot girls yet ?
Is this not a blatant transgression of the 4th Amendment?? Back to the dark days of the writs of assistance..
Copyright infringement as a criminal act - that's just wrong. And scary. Too long has this corporate fellatio been going on..
And as an additional WTF: Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake/Beyonce/Dude, Where's My Car?/Gigli are the USA's most important economic engines? Or at least, the engine's constituents??Goddamn. Just, goddamn.
p.s: TFA's dated May 6th. Isn't this coming a tad late on[Slashdot Comments We Liked]
"The USA is a nation of laws, poorly written and randomly enforced" - Frank Zappa
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
I am afraid to use my card to buy a song for 90 cents. Not that I do not want to pay.
But I will not resume walking to the shops to by disks. It's like asking me to start riding a horse.
It's gone, over. Forget about it. Move on. No more CDs. Turn the page.
Or IPED. Funny fact: in my country (Portugal), the secret police of the repressive regime of Salazar was called PIDE.
The question is: who doesn't have something on their computer that infringes copyright in some manner? It's not just the P2P crowd -- they might well share some of their booty with others, maybe even providing tracks on a CD-R to friends who have slow connections, or not enough savvy to use or desire to risk torrents. If you've ripped tracks from someone else's CD, technically you're violating a copyright. (Hell, the RIAA thinks that ripping your own CDs is infringement). How many people have software of dubious origin on their machines, either by design or ignorance? (All those grey market Windows and Photoshop CDs that are ubiquitous on eBay, for example.) For that matter, what about the mass of infringing material on YouTube? Download a clip from last night's American Idol before Fox has it pulled, and now your computer is ours....mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. Even more damning is that there is hardly a website in existence that doesn't have SOMETHING on it -- a graphic, photo, quote, musical background -- that is, by the strictest standard of the law, an infringement of someone's copyright. Just viewing the website puts those items in your cache -- voila, you are now guilty...please hand over the computer quietly and there won't be any trouble.
Maybe this is a plot to help balance the budget. Instead of spending money on computers for all the federal agencies, they just seize as many as they need from all us hardened criminals.
"Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket." -- Eric Hoffer
The story for your link is 5 years old. Apparently Hatch's people have since licensed the menu system. View source from Hatch's home page:
...
Milonic DHTML Website Navigation Menu
License Details:
Type: Professional
Number: 188909
the transformation will be complete. Just think how easy getting warrants will be now. It shouldn't take long for dead tree publishers and $manufacturing_interests to gain "equal protection".
Thanks Retards.
Too bad mass immigration will destroy all that (just like in many other European countries), but it was nice while it lasted.
>In the same paragraph:
>>and (4) increase penalties for IP violations that endanger public health and safety.
Wouldn't be more reasonable to have some law that have penalties in general for something that endager public health and safety? Regardless of if it involves some IP violation or not! Or shall it be more OK to endager public health and safety as long as you do it with an original than with an illegal copy? This seems to not be related to IP at all (regardless of what you include in IP).
What they've failed to demonstrate (IMHO) is that the IP problems they're fighting (P2P networks) make a demonstratable difference to profits.
See, that's where they're lying. It isn't really about them being afraid of file sharers causing all that much damage to profits. It's about *control of the distribution mechanisms of entertainment, software, and information*.
First, it scares the crap out of the media distribution and proprietary software cartels that individual artists and software creators are increasingly able to bypass them pretty much altogether and create and distribute their creations themselves without the cartels getting the lions' share.
Second, it scares the crap out of the government that information and data can be so easily distributed quickly, widely, and at nominal cost, with no practical way for government to censor or control it, with the added kicker of it becoming harder and harder to pierce the anonymity the internet provides, especially with the rise of open-source free hard-encryption and anonymizing tools. Things like Wikileaks are giving them fits.
The "IP" issue is really nothing more than a means to an end, and a distraction from the real goal of taking the ability away from individuals to distribute information, software, and entertainment themselves to keep the movie/music/proprietary software cartels' gravy-train rolling, and creating a means for the government to control the spread of information and leaks about the more sordid actions of the powerful and rich to increase their power and wealth at our expense while remaining above the law.
Cheers!
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
People get the Government they deserve.
(Please note, the quote does not say "a person gets").
You need to be involved. Check your Congressman's vote:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2008-300
Write him if you don't like it (or if you did). I'm proud to say Ron Paul of TX voted Nay.
Does anybody plan on DOING ANYTHING about this?
Call your senator and tell them not to lose your vote by passing this crap.
Shouldn't they be prioritizing protecting the constitution (which forbids unreasonable search and seizure) to the "highest level of our government"
Sunwalker Dezco for Warchief in 2016
Progress is made by shared invention. Once upon a time invention sharing was universal but progress was slow. Then we had copyrights and patents and the intent of these was to encourage investment in invention by granting a temporary monopoly on it. That worked for a while. Economic interests have spoiled this by extending the monopoly into eternity and twisting the word invention to absurdity. These days people are choosing to share their invention from the beginning or not at all.
It may be time to end the zenlike "temporary yet eternal" monopolies granted under copyright and patent.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
This is how you get rid of your worst enemy:
.torrent files
... Send some joke powerpoint file as "PirateBoy" orsomething along those lines.
:)
1) Get couple
2) Email them to your enemy
3) Report to Feds
4) Profit???
or better yet, of "dubious origins"
Wonder do they anything to protect ISPs, say you could ru ndown an ISP by ordering a bunch of servers putting some "dubious origins" material into the servers, and report to feds, there competition gone.
Didnt RTFA obviously
Pulsed Media Seedboxes
So he's just barely off in his analysis then?
The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
[...]
Did I mention we've got hot girls yet ? But you don't have lions and tigers. Only in Kenya...
Technology like this renders matter a mere commodity ; manufacturing services will cease to be valuable, the only thing of value will be the programs it runs.
The prospect of such a device running an open OS, and accepting production templates which are themselves open, must terrify certain entities.
Of course, this mild attack of paranoia presumes that these creatures are actually organized enough to think of this. In actuality, their greed over existing IP is probably enough to explain their behavior, without recourse to long-term planning for a future when you can print your own food/clothes/car/plane/house/computer/pharmaceuticals.
Seriously, I'm tired of hearing "Lesser Evil", "Throwing your vote away" etc.
At this point it doesn't matter in the slightest which party gets in, things will continue much the same way with minor differences in soundbite.
You can "throw your vote away" because a republican or democrat will get in, and it doesn't matter which. the more people that do this, the more those scared of "wasting their vote" will realise it's not a waste at all, and that all it takes is for more people to realise what's going on.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you wanted to buy was a steak. I imagine a steak would have tasted much better than a stake. Since most stakes are made out of wood it would explain the dryness and lack of flavor.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
Does that mean that every student that downloads a pdf of the assignment because the book is no longer in print now infringes upon this law? I remember from some classes having an excess of about 30 some MB of pdf files that were all reading assignments because the book came out in the 50's and there wasn't that much of a demand for it other than college students and professors so no one makes a profit off printing them. On the same case, does this law mean that we are then going to have to shut down project gutenberg? Who has access to classics free on the internet for the education of the masses to their classics, all of which are copyrighted in their current form last I checked by project gutenberg. Does that mean when I download and copy the plain text file so your average college student can do their homework off line mean that their computer is going to be confiscated each time they catch students doing homework?
Or what about businesses that bought corporate licenses of various software that only came with one user manual that had to make it a pdf for easier distribution (which I would like more than just killing tree's and cluttering my desk)?
"I bought a 15 GBP stake. It was a terrible stake; dry and no flavor."
Pointed pieces of wood tend to be that way.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
The real point about the obsessive, anal-retentive, security obsessed, tabloid influenced, illiberal and incompetent New Labour government is that it makes loud noises because it is rapidly losing influence, not because it is establishing a Stalinist state.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
wow....fuck you guys. This is what the 2nd amendment is for.
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
Is it really the best use of gov't resources and tax dollars to protect profit margins of industries that fail to innovate and develop new revenue streams? I am all for protecting the property of the content creators but we all know that if it was about that then this would not even be on the table. It is being driven... pushed ... shoved by corporate interests not individual content creators.
I of course have absolutely no factual research to back my statements so someone, someone credible, please prove me wrong.
Coreigh
"Waitress I need two more boat-drinks..."
nothingbettertodo
You're absolutely correct - with *so many* things that are clearly more important for the government to be doing, I can't possibly see how the government can elevate intellectual property enforcement to the highest priority. But, they probably will. The government, is, essentially, a business. The highest priority for any business is to protect their revenue streams. I think people in the government think this way: protecting copyright/patent holders' revenue streams will in turn protect business-, capital gains-, and personal income tax revenue streams, so enforcement will pay for itself, and maybe pay for other programs and services. That might be giving them too much credit, though, as it's quite possible they are just trying to keep the people who pay for their campaigns, vacations, and private suites at stadiums, happy.
If history has taught us anything, though, it's that this made-up legal power of copyright is, actually, very difficult and expensive to enforce. I doubt it can even be made break-even in the long term.
The truth is, the best tool copyright holders have for generating revenue is the goodwill of their patrons. Some people will always rip you off if they can. Some other people have a high personal moral sense, and will always try to compensate artists, programmers, etc for their work. An example of this is the artist who performs in the park, or on the sidewalk, with a hat or something on the ground that people toss change or money into; some people will listen to the music (or watch, if it's a visual performing artist) and enjoy it, but still not pitch any money in, other people will put some money in because they enjoyed it and realize it's important to support the artist if you want to enable that artist to concentrate on their art, and not be force to spend significant amounts of time on other methods of generating income. Most people fall somewhere in the middle, where if they think you are trying to rip them off (e.g. charge way too much for your product), they will rip you off, but if you ask for a reasonable price, they will happily pay it.
I, personally, fall into the second camp - if I enjoy a song, game, movie, book, or whatever, I *want* to pay a *reasonable* amount of money to support that creative effort. I don't even mind that middle men like publishers, record labels, etc make some money, as long as they aren't ripping off the artists (which, unfortunately, is usually the case anyhow) - the middlemen, usually do, after all, add some value in terms of production, promotion, and distribution. If you ask too much money for the product, I will just not buy it, but also not steal it. I don't need your product after all. There's other music, games, movies, books that I can enjoy, and which I find I *can* do business with the copyright holders.
Encrypt, encrypt, encrypt.
Encrypt your entire computer disk.
www.truecrypt.org
Encrypted connection to the internet.
www.cotse.com
Use encrypted email.
http://quicksilvermail.net/
(or one of many other email encryption programs, including Thunderbird)
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
You must move to protect yourself from present day governments that are increasing hostile toward their citizens. They are godless and have deserted their consciences for political and personal gain.
I have written a program that does a hard shutdown of my full disk TrueCrypted computer when anyone clicks or moves the mouse, presses a key, or plugs or unplugs anything into my computer. I have not put it out in public yet because of it being potential used by the bad guys. However, the more intrusive governments become, the more I am tempted to make it public. The above tactics are the only way law abiding citizens are going to be able to stop these government tyrants from trying to build false cases against us. In the end, you and I can prevail if you are willing to. You will not be able to give in to their threats (including the extremely vicious prosecutor practice of heaping multiple charges upon you to try to place you in fear and thus agreeing to confess to a lesser charge to get the others dropped.)
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Really? 'Cos I'd happily forgo some money if I didn't have to worry about things like the PATRIOT act, PRO-IP act, and other dubious acts that infringe upon my rights.
Frankly, my right to keep my money is far less important to me than my right to not have my government spy on me, take my stuff without any reasonable cause, etc. I guess you're feeling the opposite way, which is fine, but I don't give a damn about money, so maybe that's why I just don't care in comparison.
That is extremely good news. It means that making sure that works fall into the public domain after their copyrights expire, is now part of an overall system that has become highest priority. We should expect this Conyers guy to be one of the sponsors of a bill that repeals DMCA's circumvention prohibitions.
Huh? Whaddya mean I don't understand? Isn't that what he implied? ;-)
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I've had these same thoughts since I discovered how far advanced household 3D printing had become. I don't think you're wearing any hats unless it's a thinking cap. I doubt I'll see this in my remaining 20 or 30 years left, but it's certainly coming.
In a world where everyone has a replicator for ordinary objects, what property is there to own? The answer is obviously the software instructions required to produce the object. Suppose I want to build a coffee maker because my last one died. I'll download code to the "printer" and eventually have a new coffee maker. How many different kinds of coffee makers will there be? Will there be brands because people choose to pay the equivalents of Braun and Phillips real money for their supposedly-superior plans? Or will the world generally rely on open-sourced plans? For commodity items like coffee makers, I'd guess open source will be the norm as it is now for an ever-growing list of software commodities.
Obviously some physical objects like land will retain their value in this world. Energy resources might also still be an issue. Then there's foodstuffs. Will people join Capt. Picard at the replicator for a nice cup of "tea, Earl Grey, hot," or will they fear "manufactured" foods the same way genetically-engineered food scares some people now?
This one is easy. A quick look at John Conyers' political contributions shows the movie/music industry is the second largest political contributor to his campaign. Check out this link: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2006&cid=N00004029 Who loves the MPAA/RIAA nowadays? Only the sellouts.
Write your senators, please--this is akin to the police closing a library for six months to two years because they found a novel on the floor and they can't positively determine that it's a legal copy.
Only, because of the internet, someone who's never even been to the library can drop it there. Furthermore, it doesn't even have to be there--if a cop says he thinks he saw one, that counts. *and*, because it's computer hardware as well as software, the overall value and lifetime expectancy of the library decreases tremendously over the time it's not usable.
(ranged by freedom)
(I mean here socialism as practiced in most european countries between 1950-2000, if you mean the EU's overwhelming philosophy, then perhaps yes, you're right that it's closer to communism than fascism) In many ways the Socialist Europeans are much more free than the average American. Since education is often free to the individual (and you even get a small stipend by the government to go to school) people get to study for the career they really want, rather than being burdened by massive student loans. The state gets paid back through the higher taxes from the greater income, and the individual gets to pursue the career they really want rather than the one that they can afford to pay for (in terms of education).
In terms of medical care the Europeans are also much freer, since they get free medical care. Therefore Europeans are not screwed by getting sick when they can't afford health insurance, have had prior diseases like cancer, or their insurance company decides to screw them somehow.
The much-touted "freedom" of America is more for large corporations and the few people that can write a check for their college tuition. In fact, this article is about large corporations getting their own police force. Do you think this means greater or lesser freedom for the average individual? (Hint: you may soon have federal police knocking on your door for sharing the wrong file) We still haven't even gotten to drug use (legalized in Holland) or sex and nudity (much freer laws in Europe). Sure, they pay alot in taxes, but when you count the cost of health care and education, the tax burden comes out similarly. Americans just get to pay for hugely expensive ($500 billion+) annual defense budgets or hugely expensive ($750 billion+) unnecessary wars or the hugely expensive "War on Drugs" rather than things they actually can use in daily life.
I *knew* we'd be saved when the Democrats retook the Congress! Oh, wait...
Every time a story like this is posted, we get a lot of well-worded responses about why it's a bad thing, and that's it. We don't have a call for organized action. We don't have a set agenda. We all share in the outrage, but we end up internalizing it and stewing in our own fury. Why don't who have good writing skills and an understanding of law or politics and can actually articulate why this is a Bad Thing actually come up with a generic template letter that fellow Slashdotters can copy and paste to their senator or house representative? Why don't we do something with our outrage? There may be a few out there who actually do this, so why not share your letter with Slashdot and have everyone else do the same? I know EFF.org does this often, but why not do something here at Slashdot?
If this were to be passed, and function as it's sponsors envision, here is what would happen:
1. US residents only subjects to this legislation, so tech sales and interest in the US dwindles.
2. The Free World freely distributes and utilizes IP free of charge, making real value = 0, and increasing demand and interest in tech.
3. US loses the tech lead and the free markets=free minds advantages to foreign power.
Using men with guns to create artificial scarcity for a false local economy will result in the end of the United States as we know it.
It can be made in other countries, but it's damn hard to profit off it in the States. His point is that individual IPs are unique, and cannot be outsourced. You can't have some guy in India make a new $POP_SENSATION record.
Cynical Idealist
Pardon my lack of understanding how laws are coded or maybe I missed the section of this bill that the poster found dangerous.
But I can't seem to find the section that describes the below mentioned abilities. What I am trying to NOT do is read a text as true and jump on the bandwagon without first reading the law myself to see if the bill matches the posters impression. Too many people judge too quickly.
" It would allow the Feds to seize hardware that has even one file coming from 'dubious origins,' e.g. downloaded from P2P."
Where does the above impression come from in the bill?
Such an appalling law. If I was in the U.S, I would begin writing to my representative now.
So in other words, they'll nail you even if you don't have any pirated stuff on your computer, but rather if you happened to have limewire or bittorrent installed it's indicative of automatic guilt. How convenient for them.
Has no one has pointed out that this happened over a month ago? Or the last line mentioning that no comparable bill has been proposed in the Senate (which is still the case)? Or that the Justice Department has come out to opposing the bill? Yes, I'm pissed off that the House is turning the same stupid (and failed) drug-war tactics to the ip-war; but thankfully, it looks like this is dead in the water.
If these issues are important to you, you can keep better abreast of them at techdirt.com (often seen in a /. article... three days later) or williampatry.blogspot.com (Google's senior copyright lawyer's blog).
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
Isn't this just a big bad scary monster of a bill designed to scare us? That way, it'll get watered down to something that can actually pass and lay the groundwork for the slow, insidious trudge of rights-snatching that has been going on for the last 100 years?
It's like saying "Hey I'm gonna shoot you in the head!" then you stab them in the toe with a needle. It hurts like a bastard, but at least it doesn't kill you. Then they stab you in the thigh. They poke you in the nipple with a hot iron. Then they dip you in lemon juice.
After a while, getting shot in the head sure starts to seem mighty nice.
Thanks, government!
-
I faxed Boxer and Feinstein but they are in the bag on PRO IP act. I am really pissed at my Republican Representative. Less government and laws not more. I am sick to death of Corporations getting away with murder and government getting bigger and more intrusive every day. I say we throw them all out and start over from scratch. I don't know how we organize this but we need a Senate full of non lawyers that don't owe anyone a thing. I know that HR 4279 just cost my Representative my vote and I told them so via a phone call separate from my FAX.
If you don't like what I write don't be a CS and mod it down. Refute it.
Yea I can't spell. So what is your point?