I don't get it; why have the Republicans in control of Congress become the sock puppets of Big Content? Perhaps the liberal bias of the media elites is a thing of the past. Anyway, a subcomittee of the House Judiciary approved a bill that granted a sweeping reduction in fair use rights while jacking up the penalties for so-called "P2P pirates."
The PDEA--the result of intense lobbying from large copyright holders over the past six months--has emerged as a kind of grab-bag that combines other proposals introduced in the past but not approved. One section that first surfaced last year punishes an Internet user who makes available $1,000 in copyrighted materials with prison terms of up to three years and fines of up to $250,000. If the PDEA became law, prosecutors would not have to prove that $1,000 in copyrighted materials were downloaded--they would need only to show that those files had been publicly accessible in a shared folder.In addition, Big Content's getting the Federales to do their dirty work for them. Attorney General (and Lord Protector) Ashcroft, perhaps swept up in passion for The Passion, has created a DoJ task force on copyright crimes. The goal of the new task force? To see if Justice is being aggressive enough in doing Big Content's bidding. Meanwhile back in my homeland, the copyfight's taken a decidedly different turn. A federal judge rejected a motion from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (or "NAMBLA") to allow them to pursue legal action against users of file-sharing software.
Making files available in online, shared directories is within the bounds of Canadian copyright law, von Finckenstein ruled. "No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorized the reproduction of sound recordings," von Finckenstein wrote in his 28-page ruling. "They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer users via a P2P service."In other words, Big Content can't tell you how to secure your property. If you want to leave your own door wide open, go right ahead. It's your door. Perhaps I should think about defecting back to the Soviet Canuckistan.
