US Attorney General Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual-property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy.

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719339-7.html

Life in prison under certain circumstances...?

A bit excessive? Interpretation?
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* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")

How can you attempt to infringe a copyright? Either you pirate or you don't! Does this mean if you attempt to bootleg software and you can't copy it, it'll send a little electronic stool-pigeon via e-mail to rat on you?

* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it.

What's he been smoking? If pirated software for running diagnostic machinery were actually available, a lot of us hospital owners would be very happy. Can we criminalize actually making defective diagnostic and medical software? Because if it's the software's fault that someone dies, the programmer ought to go to jail... :lol:

* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights.

Again with the attempts. "Attempt" is too vague to hold up in court... No wonder Bush&Co. are behind this bill... more wiretaps! (That's sarcastic)

* Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is problematic and controversial.

Good luck with that.

* Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anticircumvention regulations. Criminal violations are currently punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties.

* Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes. Certain copyright crimes currently require someone to commit the "distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period of at least 10 copies" valued at more than $2,500. The IPPA would insert a new prohibition: actions that were "intended to consist of" distribution.

That's a little easier to prove than "intended infringement".

* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment.

So... no more bootlegging? :lol: Does this mean I can't record live concerts anymore? (Most of the fan-oriented bands encourage their fans to share concert recordings... gives you a bigger fan/buyer base) Yeah... that'll get lots more people into the seats...
 
Hyperbole

n.

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.

What do you not understand about Intellectual Property?
 
Well, it's this:

"Attempted" infringement is too vague, and opens up a whole can of worms in terms of enforcement.

"Attempted" distribution... might be easier to prove.

And re: "Concert Recording": there's a whole generation of us who grew up doing that. A smart band will realize that crummy, noise-filled, back-of-the-bleachers concert recordings help build buzz for the band and help sell more tickets and albums. If you treat your fans like hardened criminals (hellooooo Metallica), that ultimately turns them off.
 
Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights.

how do you determine who is attempting to infringe if you haven't yet?

That's like wiretapping people who are attempting to commit murder... there's no way of knowing.
 
Article
* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it.
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Uh... no? How about making it illegal for them to actually recklessly cause death? Oh wait, we already have laws for that. How about making it so that they can be sued for malpractice by using illegal software - oh wait! We have laws for that too.

...don't see how using illegal copies of software should ever be punishable by life in prison. You can be held liable for the effects of using faulty copies already.
 
Danoff
Uh... no? How about making it illegal for them to actually recklessly cause death? Oh wait, we already have laws for that. How about making it so that they can be sued for malpractice by using illegal software - oh wait! We have laws for that too.

...don't see how using illegal copies of software should ever be punishable by life in prison. You can be held liable for the effects of using faulty copies already.
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Yeah, I think this part is just repetitive legal mumbo jumbo.




Now, as for how can you attempt to pirate software:

Say you are someone that wants to pirate thousands of copies of something and sell it in China. You don't own a copy of said product but your friend does. Now, teh government suspects you because of whatever reason and has a wiretap on your phone. You call your friend and promise to split the profits with him 50/50 if he lets you borrow his copy of the product. Five minutes later federal officials show up and arrest you for attempting to pirate copyrighted material.

Or how would it apply to you as an average citizen:

You go on to a file sharing service and click to download some copyrighted material from an undercover agent. The file is actually a dummy file, so no infringement is committed, but you attempted to.


Really, this seems very simple to me.
 
Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment.
Click to expand...

How about sending musicians who make crappy music to Guantanamo, then? Wait, that's just as absurd.
 
Pupik
How about sending musicians who make crappy music to Guantanamo, then? Wait, that's just as absurd.
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There's not room for that many musicians . . . :)

This is just a bit more one-step-at-a-time erosion of civil rights. You get 10 or 20 years worth of "minor changes" or "language clarifications" or "security issues" and suddenly your legal code is unrecognizable.

It is not the government's responsibility to control its citizens or protect its corporations. It's rather the other way around, don't you think?
 
wfooshee
It is not the government's responsibility to control its citizens or protect its corporations. It's rather the other way around, don't you think?
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Indeed!
* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America.
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Almost everything about this proposal bothers me, but I think this one bothers me the most. Since when should the government be required to notify a private organization about a law enforcement action under a blanket mandate like that?
 
wfooshee
It is not the government's responsibility to control its citizens or protect its corporations. It's rather the other way around, don't you think?
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Free market much? No?

Yes, government's job is to protect its citizens, but as corporations are owned, operated, controlled, and provide work for citizens they should also protect corporations.

BobK
Almost everything about this proposal bothers me, but I think this one bothers me the most. Since when should the government be required to notify a private organization about a law enforcement action under a blanket mandate like that?
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If I understand this correctly they are notifying them when a bootleg copy of a CD/concert is imported. Correct me if I am wrong on that. If that is the case then they should report this as it is the same as stealing from the record company. If someone stole something from your house, even if you didn't notice, wouldn't you want the police to notify you if they were suspicious of the person?

The only issue I have with this is why only the RIAA gets this special treatment.


Why is it that people believe a corporation or organization is not guaranteed the same protections as a private citizen? The idea that it is a big company that makes millions of dollars and they won't notice? People's jobs do depend on these corporations and organizations. Those millions of dollars go into more pockets than just the rich executives at the top. And trust me, when losses are noticed the rich executives who make decisions won't make up for it from their own paychecks.

I'll agree that they sometimes initiate practices that aren't fan-friendly and may even turn away business, but that is their choice to do with their business. That does not give you the right to pirate or steal from them.
 
Wow, one step closer to a police state.

That proposal is incredibly excessive. Perhaps its the Attorney General's way of taking attention away from other issues surrounding him at the moment?
 
What police state? What controls are being placed on "the people"? This is not about my dopey friend copying his CD, this is about those who bootleg and pirate music, video, software, and other forms of media for profit. It has always been illegal if you steal property that does not belong to you, do you not understand that?

The Attorney General has other issues? Like what, more non-stories? More whining from politicians?
 
Why doesnt the government use this time and effort into fixing real problems such as the homeless rate, social security, immigration, the war, murderers, rapists, kidnapped children, school shootings, health care, hell I could go on but I'm tired.

Why are we worried about a couple of nerds downloading some crappy video game from some spyware infested torrent to play at their geeky lan party?

Really? Is this really that big of a problem? Oh I'm sorry is Nickelback still not going multi-platinum? Has Spiderman 3 not really make 750 million dollars? It looks like these "artists" are still lining their pockets very nicely.
 

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