House passes bill (HR 4279) that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music

http://www.boingboing.net/ ^ | May 9, 2008 | Cory Doctorow

[JerseyHighlander]

House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music

Posted by Cory Doctorow, May 9, 2008 3:15 AM | permalink

Glenn sez,

I was just alerted that the House of Reps has passed HR 4279, with the lovely name, PRO-IP (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008). Like the doublespeak PATRIOT Act and Peacekeeper missiles, PRO-IP puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright. Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also incite local authorities to collect all the computers and related gear that was used to pirate.

This isn't a judgment on my part as to whether piracy is good or bad (I think copyright deserves to be protected through reasonable methods), but I am always horrified when civil enforcement morphs into criminal enforcement. Conservatives and liberals should be up in arms alike that local prosecutors and/or police could intervene as they desire in essentially a private affair arranged by the RIAA, and permanently seize thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in private property in addition to any civil penalties.

If this bill is passed in its present form by the Senate and signed, that means there's no more pro forma RIAA lawsuit payoffs, because if you wind up settling with the RIAA, you could still lose all your stuff in addition to any fee you paid them.

This is particularly irksome in light of the MSN Music shutdown, about which the EFF has written a strong and powerful letter. It is increasingly likely a normal person could have purchased music legally from an online site, burned it to an ordinary audio CD, and in the right set of circumstances be branded a pirate because the original "granting" authority no longer exists to prove that the consumer was a legitimate purchasers.

The more the law is constructed to sweep in folks who are absolutely observant of it, the more we need broader protections.

PDF Link (Thanks, Glenn!)

[auboy]

Throw them all out.

I second the motion.

[JerseyHighlander]

Try here:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=B02

[auboy]

Thanks! Your post 16 is interesting, also. Crooked, sneaky bustards abound.

[Clump]

They might as well make the fine $100,000,000.00 per track. It would be more effective if they would make it $30.00 a track. Simply ridiculous. My Congress critter actually voted for it. I will let him know how pathetic it is.

[ctdonath2]

In other news, Freenet 0.7 was released.

Given the severity of the punishment for a relatively ubiquitious activity, it may behoove some to read that news...

[Joe Boucher]

Exactly my thoughts.
What if I own rental property where that is what a renter is doing?
Or if My 17 year old dumb kid downloads they can sue me for my home.
Lock and Load.

[Joe Boucher]

Hope not.
But He leans most often for business.

[ShadowAce]

[qam1]

This might be worth a Xer Ping?

Iffy, but why not

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

[Tamar1973]

I keep receipts of all music I purchase via download, whether I buy it from iTunes or Amazon.com.

[Grunthor]

“House passes bill (HR 4279) that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music”

Yet another good reason to rent.

[Publius6961]

Absolutely. They do the same to property owners when drugs are involved.

Nice segue!

Music=drugs...

[Publius6961]

Not only are they turning off their DRM servers soon...

Thanks to all who bought (and use) Microshaft VISTA. That validated an impossible situation in a free society.

When the national police (the military) is made a tool of a "legal" mob, to whom RICO laws should apply, then we can truly appreciate the corner we have allowed our government to paint us into...

[tacticalogic]

Ron Paul voted against.

Where's the outrage?

[antiRepublicrat]

I wrote my congresscritter about this months ago, and he went right ahead and voted for it. I think I’ll be writing him another letter.

[calex59]

Absolutely. They do the same to property owners when drugs are involved.

Nice segue!

Music=drugs...

Anyone who thinks confiscation laws, whether for drugs or other crimes, are constitutional has to brain dead or a died in the wool liberal. The fact of the matter is since putting the confiscation laws for drugs into effect there have been an additional 200(may be more by now, haven't checked lately) crimes which allow the government to confiscate your property, all before a trial and before you are found guilty.

If you are cleared of the charges, even if you are cleared and have no trial, you stand little or no chance of getting your property(usually your home)back from the government. It is a long process purposely put into place in order that the government may keep its hands on your property whether you were guilty or not.

The supreme court should have overturned these unconstitutional laws long ago but of course the fix is in because it means more money for the government. To be fair though, no confiscation cases have been heard by the Supremes since the more conservative court we have now was put into place.

If you don't believe what I have said simply google and do some reasearch, the facts are enough to make your blood boil. But of course some FReepers believe nothing is unconstitutional if it is for the war on drugs, right?

[antiRepublicrat]

The rest of the world give authors copyright protection for about 50 years after their death.

The rest of the world isn't constrained by the Copyright Clause of the Constitution. To comply with the Berne Convention and follow what the rest of the world does is to violate the Constitution.

[diverteach]

IMHO, the music recording industry RARELY puts out anything anymore worth buying no differently than Hollwierd putting out movies that aren’t worth paying the price to go see them.

[BlazingArizona]

RIAA is really, really close to that point.

It passed that point long ago. RIAA needs to die, in the most horrible and messy way possible.

[antiRepublicrat]

The Copyfraud ping: copyright, patent and trademark abuse, and general abuse of laws in the digital age.
If you want on or off the Copyfraud Ping List, Freepmail me.