Posted on 08/21/2002 10:34:16 AM PDT by Leroy S. Mort
ASPEN, Colo.--The U.S. Department of Justice is prepared to begin prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates, a top government official said on Tuesday.
John Malcolm, a deputy assistant attorney general, said Americans should realize that swapping illicit copies of music and movies is a criminal offense that can result in lengthy prison terms.
"A lot of people think these activities are legal, and they think they ought to be legal," Malcolm told an audience at the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s annual technology and politics summit.
Malcolm said the Internet has become "the world's largest copy machine" and that criminal prosecutions of copyright offenders are now necessary to preserve the viability of America's content industries. "There does have to be some kind of a public message that stealing is stealing is stealing," said Malcolm, who oversees the arm of the Justice Department that prosecutes copyright and computer crime cases.
In an interview, Malcolm would not say when prosecutions would begin. The response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks temporarily diverted the department's resources and prevented its attorneys from focusing on this earlier, he said.
A few weeks ago, some of the most senior members of Congress pressured the Justice Department to invoke a little-known law, the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act, against peer-to-peer users who swap files without permission.
Under the NET Act, signed by President Clinton in 1997, it is a federal crime to share copies of copyrighted products such as software, movies or music with anyone, even friends or family members, if the value of the work exceeds $1,000. Violations are punishable by one year in prison, or if the value tops $2,500, "not more than five years" in prison.
Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), said his industry would "welcome" prosecutions that send a message to song-swappers.
"Some prosecutions that make that clear could be very helpful...I think they would think twice if they thought there was a risk of criminal prosecution," said Sherman, who was on the same conference panel.
Christopher Cookson, executive vice president of Warner Bros. and another panelist, said there was "a need for governments to step in and maintain order in society."
Swapping files in violation of the law has always been a civil offense, and the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have the option of suing individual infringers and seeking damages.
But, Malcolm said, criminal prosecutions can be much more effective in intimidating file-swappers who have little assets at risk in a civil suit. "Civil remedies are not adequate...Law enforcement in that regard does have several advantages," Malcolm said. "We have the advantage, when appropriate, of opening up and conducting multi-jurisdictional and international investigations.
"Most parents would be horrified if they walked into a child's room and found 100 stolen CDs...However, these same parents think nothing of having their children spend time online downloading hundreds of songs without paying a dime."
Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, said he was skeptical about the view that peer-to-peer piracy should be a criminal offense. "If we have 70 million people in the United States who are breaking the law, we have a big issue."
The DOJ already has used the NET Act to imprison noncommercial software pirates, which software lobbyists hailed as "an important component of the overall effort to prevent software theft."
During his confirmation hearing in June 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft told Congress that "given the fact that much of America's strength in the world economy is a result of our being the developer and promoter of most of the valuable software, we cannot allow the assets that are held electronically to be pirated or infringed. And so we will make a priority of cybercrime issues."
The letter from Congress complains of "a staggering increase in the amount of intellectual property pirated over the Internet through peer-to-peer systems." Signed by 19 members of Congress, including Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Ca., the letter urged Ashcroft "to prosecute individuals who intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks."
Property rights are fundamental to liberty.
Yes, a composition becomes public domain 50 years after the death of the writer (or the last living writer if there are more than one writer). However, that only applies to the essense of the composition, not it's specific embodiment. Which means if you want to assemble an orchestra and record Beethoven's 9th, you have every right to do so, without charge to use as you wish.
However, you cannot copy and sell someone else's specific embodiment of that composition. If you take the Boston Philharmonic's recording of Beethoven's 9th, copy it and try to sell it, that's illegal.
No problem with that. They will go out of business if they are no longer needed. Shrumpeter called it "creative destruction" as I'm sure you already know.
I guess you shouldn't go for that 5K investment after all. :-)
The market might be right for you now.
So do I! But I find it far more offensive that the socialists run this country. War requires men to commit acts that are distasteful to them. They have used Marxist revolutionary ideas on our country for 50+ years to great success. We can turn it back in their faces. The use of their tactics does not require you to share their ideology.
Interesting rationalization. But rationalization nonetheless.
Every library in the country is in violation of this law. Or is this one of those cases where it's OK for the gubmint to do it, but not private citizens? This is a bad law. No doubt about it.
Sure you could, just as thousands of others already have. But how many of those home studio recordings are holding spots in the top 100? Most artists who go that route press 1000 CDs, hand out about 150 to friends and family and use the rest for coasters. I've seen it too many times. But good luck to you if you think you can do better.
(bold mine) Copies is the key word. They lend originals at the library.
Every library in the country is in violation of this law. Or is this one of those cases where it's OK for the gubmint to do it, but not private citizens? This is a bad law. No doubt about it.
It is unclear which law you are talking about. But of course the government allows itself to do what you cannot. Which of course should not be the case.
It has everthing to do with the topic. Copywrite law was passed. So was seat belt laws.
Here's another analogy you might understand....
Ten thousand people in a town. Two thousand are property owners. They vote to raise property taxes. Everyone votes. IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY!
I don't even know who the hell Shrumpeter is.
I guess you shouldn't go for that 5K investment after all. :-)
Aw, don't give my wife any more ammo than she already has!
Amazing situational ethics. And misunderstanding of economics to boot.
The price went up because they added in more profit, you goofball. They don't have to add value. You paid for it.
Populism is founded on an ignorance of free market economics.
Now THAT is an excellent analogy.
Price is that point on the graph where supply and demand intersect.
I honestly hope that helps.
LOL, Well you understood his economic theory (written a long time ago) so it's a moot point if you know him.
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