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."
It shouldn't be, but they make it my business by constantly harping on the fact that they are being screwed over by the labels. That's what that show seems to be about. It's like a venue for the artists to vent about the screwing they have to take to try to make it in the business. Watch it some time.
Who is working for who? Is the artist the one hiring the label? I think I already know that answer.
It shouldn't be, but they make it my business by constantly harping on the fact that they are being screwed over by the labels. That's what that show seems to be about. It's like a venue for the artists to vent about the screwing they have to take to try to make it in the business. Watch it some time.
Who is working for who? Is the artist the one hiring the label? I think I already know that answer.
So, we should scrap our system of laws in favor of appeasing whatever a majority wishes. I think that's called mob rule.
And you calling me rude is a laugh after you stupidly sneered at me and suggested I educate myself on the music business.
Yet they keep on signing with the major labels. Must not be that bad.
Well, it seems everyone has learned well from the Democrats, if you want to steal from someone, you first demagogue them and then de-legitimize their rights. I just find it strangely fascinating to see so many on FR in lockstep with the Democrats mindset.
I'm hardly trolling. My statements are rooted in sincere belief and the principles of law. I'm not employed by a record company and haven't been for nearly 10 years.
Just so you know where I'm coming from (mostly so you'll quit imparting your own prejudice and assumptions), I'm no fan of the major record companies. I haven't been on a record company payroll for almost 10 years. I detest some of the standard practices of the record companies, both in the past and present. I am 100% an advocate for artists and writers. If they could make a career in the music business without the aid of record companies, I'd be all for it.
But sad to say, experience has taught me that record companies are a necessary part of the equation. They serve a function that most artists can't or don't want to do, namely all the unpleasant marketing and number crunching that left-brain people like artists are so averse to.
As much as everyone likes to fashion themselves as some kind of technological revolutionaries fighting the big bad record companies, when it comes down to it, when you deprive record companies their due profit, you're harming the artist. That's where I get pi$$ed off.
Most artists, Dave Mathews and Ani DiFranco being the rare exception, wouldn't have a career without the record companies.
Stupid laws are as dangerous as enforcing them. I would propose the change of the law - pirating software/media over internet would be a misdemeanor punishable by a small fine (like 10% of the market value) on condition of erasing the all copies of it. Perpetuator could agree to buy the official copy to avoid misdemeanor proceedings.
We are talking about copywrited material.
If it's public domain, that's one thing...go for it.
If the newest garage band wants to bypass the existing system and market by giving away (or selling) 'free samples' over the internet...more power to them.
But if you don't like they way the record companies do business...do what we have always done...send them a message....QUIT BUYING FROM THEM!
I got a call from my old (and still Democrat) college roommate. He said, "You've got DSL? Go here you can DL songs."
I said, "Is it legal?"
He laughed as if when has that ever stopped a liberal...power to the people and all that.
I want no part of it.
Unfortunately, attempts by the industry to prevent and criminalize various actions that fall squarely within the realm of fair use (e.g. ripping of CDs to hard disk in order to convert them to MP3s) are reality, not fantasy. The same is true of industry attempts to gain a legal license to hack computers and a legal prohibition on devices that do not incorporate rights-restriction technologies.
Sorry, but these actions have reduced my respect for even their legitimate bootlegging concerns to the same level as my respect for the national sovereignty of Afghanistan (as of October 2001).
Who? Oh you must be referring to Mrs. Andre Previn.
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