RIAA, MPAA Pushing Two New Controversial BillsRIAA, MPAA Pushing Two New Controversial Bills - Turning the Justice Department into copyright cops.... - dslreports.com
Turning the Justice Department into copyright cops....
09:12AM Friday Sep 12 2008 by Karl Bode
According to CNET, the RIAA and MPAA are resuming a lobbying push that would expand the government's power to police and enforce copyright violations. The entertainment industry is currently enjoying bi-partisan support for two new measures. The "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act" would permit the Justice Department to file a civil lawsuit against individuals who commit a copyright violation. The bill has strong opposition by those who don't believe taxpayer dollars should be used to protect entertainment industry revenue. The second bill is designed to "ratchet up copyright pressure against countries that the U.S. Trade Representative deems to be taking too few steps against piracy."
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As DownloadSquad gears up for "Download Like a Pirate Day" this Friday, it appears as though our friends from the MPAA and the boys on Capitol Hill are also hard at work. The U.S. Senate appears ready to give Bill S. 3325 - the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Act of 2008 - the green light as early as today.
A quick look at this article by Alex Curtis and this open letter from twelve different advocacy groups will provide some insight into the proposed bill.
Why should you care? Well, for starters, S. 3325 would allow the Department of Justice to sue offenders in civil court. That's a bad thing. A really bad thing.
First, it means taxpayers are footing the bill while the DOJ does MPAA dirty work. Not good. Second, defendants are guaranteed free legal representation. Third, there only has to be a "preponderance of evidence," which is not nearly the same as "beyond a reasonable doubt." As a kicker, it looks as though fines for violation would be doubled.
Over at OpenCongress there appears to be a lot of buzz about this one (64 blog posts and growing), and rightfully so.
Holy crap. The MPAA has filed 30,000 suits over the past five years. Do you really want to pick up the tab?
For the truly interested, you can view the bill's text here. Read up, and then call your Senator. You can use Cause Caller to contact members of the Senate Judiciary, find and call your own senator, or send a fax.
Taxpayers to Foot The Bill for MPAA Lawsuits? - DownloadSquad
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