Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., joined others in criticizing the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for suing alleged music swappers, calling the RIAA's legal tactics heavy-handed and against the intent of U.S. copyright laws, including the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).Ouch."The fundamental problem with the approach of the RIAA took is that it was based on legislation that created special property rights," Sununu said. "Suddenly, you had a private entity that's able to issue subpoenas, which is unprecedented."
"That's not what the DMCA was intended to do," he said. "We can't be writing legislation that gives holders of certain types of intellectual property special rights...We can't carve out special legislation to give special powers to certain types of content."
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said it's up to content creators to come up with business models that accommodate modern technology and attitudes. "I don't agree you're going to get teen-agers and young people to believe they're doing something immoral" in file swapping, he said. "The industry has to decide on a different model."
The cartel's new supremo, former Republican operative Mitch Bainwol, might be facing an uphill battle with his party-mates who have been more inclined to attack the record industry than grant them vigilante power to destroy the tech industry. via BoingBoing
