Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement

CNet News Blog ^ | May 15, 2007 | Declan McCullagh

[dayglored]

Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement

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.

"To meet the global challenges of IP crime, our criminal laws must be kept updated," Gonzales said during a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Monday.

The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is likely to receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music industries and would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright law since a 2005 measure dealing with pre-release piracy.

...

• Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright...
• Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software...
• Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations...
• Allow computers to be seized more readily...
• Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention regulations...
• Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes...
• Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America...

...

[mockingbyrd]

Could the AG maybe, just maybe, focus half the energy he is on alleged copyright infringment on, I don’t know, more pressing issues for Americans like....tougher penalties for id theft. See that’s something Americans acutally care about.

[theBuckwheat]

Now I’m sure that Gonzo must be booted, and soon.

[Digger]

This country has gone looney toons, and I can't sit back and blame Democrats alone anymore. Who will liberate us from this madness of Government run

Nothing but a true active revolution. Sure ain't your silly E-Mails to CONgress.

[hunter112]

This proposed legislation is draconian and unconstitutional.

Life imprisonment for using pirated software, and we can't even give a few years in the slammer for the average child rapist. Draconian, indeed.

[dayglored]

> Private property is private property. Someone owns the music, movies, content and have established a pricing and distribution agreement with the people that buy it. Just because we have created technology that allows us to copy and distribute content doesn’t obviate the need to protect IP. You are not allowed to photocopy books and distribute them either.

As above (#18), I don't condone piracy, and I don't do it.

Your argument is a red herring. The illegality of piracy has NOTHING to do with the WRONGNESS OF THE LEGISLATION.

What I object to is the gross and unconstitutional abuse of Federal powers that this legislation puts into play.

[Lurker]

Fire him.
Fire him.
Fire him
Fire him
Fire him.
Fire him.

Did I mention I think Bush should fire this incompetent boob?

L

[AntiFed]

The historical facts show that the RIAA and MPA have no interest or capacity to shut down the large scale for-profit bootleg industries. You will notice in the article that the penalties for non-profit IP theft includes up to 10 years in jail.

For some reason I am reminded of the professor who was arrested for making a photo-copy of an article he wanted to read...

Most of the people the RIAA is netting in their sweeps are young college kids who are downloading music for personal use. A lot of the copyrights on the good old songs should have expired a while ago, but everytime a deadline approaches they extend the protection. When the artists themselves are dead, let their art be free!

As a musician, I KNOW the RIAA is destroying itself through poor business practices and it is grossly reliant on federal interference to stay in business. You cannot raise a crop of new musicians when the younger generation cannot afford music to be inspired and educated by. You cannot attract young musicians into the industry when the corporation owns their creative work for generations. You cannot create a free market for exchange when the FCC limits radio space and a tight oligopoly controls the media.

Most obviously, you can’t break profit records when you offer inferior quality product like today’s music. But which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The RIAA is nothing short of a oligopoly with a failed business model. In a real free market system, they would be devoured by competition. In the real world, they can and will and have used the feds to build a insulating wall.

[Ender Wiggin]

The government must make its top priority the imprisonment of teens that attempt to copy Red Hot Chile Peppers CDs.

And if they are thinking evil when they do it’s hate attempteed piracy.

[July 4th]

It’s stuff like this that makes me want to relocate to some banana republic. Not because I particularly need to or enjoy doing prohibited things with my computer, but I’d rather live under a government that doesn’t have the resources to worry about imprisoning people for pirating software.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

There are nazis in both parties. Gonzo-les must go.

[BlessedBeGod]

Doesn’t he have anything better to do? (/ rhetorical question )

[dayglored]

> I was getting tired of having constitutional rights anyway.

Yeah, man... freedom is like, so-o-o 90's... 1790's that is...

[TomGuy]

Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software...

Gonzo, that is an idiotic idea!

Prisons are already overcrowded. They would have to build a few million more prison cells to house these culprits.

Maybe Gonzo should consider what Sen. Hatch advocated a few years ago -- blow up computers that downloaded illegal music.


[How much under the table is Gonzo getting from the software industry to propose this lunacy?]

[dayglored]

> Fire him. Fire him. Fire him Fire him Fire him. Fire him. Did I mention I think Bush should fire this incompetent boob?

Wow, "Boobs On Fire"... is that like "Girls Gone Wild"? Or maybe more like "Politicians On Drugs"...

[theBuckwheat]

Theft of property is not a right, but don’t forget that the Constitution directs government to define and protect copyright, thus giving those who create IP a legal monopoly on their work, but for a limited period of time.

It was never the intent of those who ratified the Constitution to give a monopoly to an author or artist forever. Copyrights should expire. But now we have entire industries built around uber-IP, something called a “franchise”. You know, Micky Disney’s Mouse. Commercial interests don’t want their franchise to be destroyed, so they lobby Congress to extend and extent the copyright.

At some point it must end and the work enters the “public domain”, another important legal concept.

Commercial interests must not be allowed to turn copyright, which is right an proper, into a perpetual monopoly.

Gonzo’s scheme sounds like big government/big business tyranny to me. Drive a stake though it while there is still time.

[ThomasThomas]

I read the article, if because you used pirated software causes someones death you can be give a death penalty. I would think other laws would apply more directly.

[TomGuy]

I change my mind. Time for him to go.

It is a sad commentary in upside-down world when we hope the Dems will do better than the Pubbies, and we are hoping 2008 hurries, so we can get this current bunch out of the White House before they do much more damage.

Clinton fatigue was bad. Bush fatigue is worse.

[dayglored]

> The historical facts show that the RIAA and MPA have no interest or capacity to shut down the large scale for-profit bootleg industries ... [much snipped] ... The RIAA is nothing short of a oligopoly with a failed business model. In a real free market system, they would be devoured by competition. In the real world, they can and will and have used the feds to build a insulating wall.

Precisely correct. Well stated.

[bamahead]

What I object to is the gross and unconstitutional abuse of Federal powers that this legislation puts into play.

Let me spell it out for ya: buy a spindle of blank discs at Best Buy...Feds track your purchase...now they can wiretap you to assess your 'intent'.

Wondering where the 'if you aren't doing anything wrong...' crowd is on this thread?

[ThePythonicCow]

Gonzales has been advocating this for a while. The following http://news.com.com/Justice+Dept.+pushes+stiffer+antipiracy+laws/2100-1028_3-5944612.html comes from Nov 2005.

Justice Dept. pushes stiffer antipiracy laws

Department wants Congress to make it a crime to "attempt" copyright infringement. Also seeks stronger penalties.

By Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: November 10, 2005, 12:29 PM PST

WASHINGTON--The Bush administration announced on Thursday that it is lobbying for new laws that would bump up criminal penalties for pirates, expand criminal prosecutors' powers and punish anyone who "attempts" to infringe a copyright.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, speaking at an antipiracy summit here hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the Department of Justice recently submitted to Congress a "legislative package" aimed at toughening up intellectual-property enforcement amid evolving technology.

Alberto Gonzales
U.S. attorney general

According to the proposal (click for PDF) being circulated by the department, the measure would create a new crime called "attempting to infringe a copyright" and subject it to the same penalties as more serious infringement offenses.

The proposal would also permit authorities to seize and destroy pirated and counterfeit goods--with a special nod to music, movies and digitally obtained materials. Also on that list are any goods used to produce pirated or counterfeit material, as well as property obtained with proceeds from the sale of pirated or counterfeit material.

In addition to possibly serving prison time, those convicted of infringements would, under the new law, have to pay the copyright holder "and any other victim of the offense" a sum to compensate for out-of-pocket losses resulting from the crime.

The Justice Department is also seeking in its proposal greater latitude for prosecutors. Right now it's only possible to enforce against copyrights that are registered with the government. The new proposal would make that true only in civil cases, allowing prosecutors to go after pirates regardless of whether the copyright is registered.

"The burden of checking whether each work was registered would substantially slow down investigations and hinder the government's ability to prosecute these violations, especially infringement of works owned by small businesses that have not had the time or resources to register," the department wrote in a document explaining its proposal.

Overall, the changes are necessary because new technology is "encouraging large-scale criminal enterprises to get involved in intellectual-property theft," Gonzales said, adding that proceeds from the illicit businesses are used, "quite frankly, to fund terrorism activities."