Proving that the executive branch of California's government doesn't have a monopoly on Big Content toadyism, California State Senator Kevin Murray has been pushing legislation that would force people to attach their name and address to the files they elect to share on P2P networks.
Obviously, this blunderbuss of an idea shreds your right to privacy and anonymity (or at least psuedonymity), but Murray doesn't care:
Murray countered [privacy concerns by saying], "There's one way to maintain your privacy in my bill. That is not to engage in illegal activity."Except, of course, in the case of where one is legally sharing copyrighted works, like shareware, or Creative Commons-licensed music. Anyway, you should always be suspicious of the old "if you aren't doing anything illegal, you'll have nothing to fear" excuse—it's the first thing they teach you in Tyranny School. The MPAA must fancy themselves the Sunshine State's shadow government because everyone's favorite lobbyist, Vans Stevenson, was behind this gem of an idea too.
