New Congressional Bill Makes DMCA Look Tame

[ChaoofNee]

http://politics.slashdot.org/article...58210&from=rss

An anonymous reader writes "Representative Lamar Smith is sponsoring the Intellectual Property Protection Act. The new bill is designed to give the Justice Department 'tools to combat IP crime' which which are used to 'quite frankly, fund terrorism activities,' according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Among the provisions is lowering the standards for 'willful copyright violation' and increasing the corresponding prison term to 10 years." More information is also available at publicknowledge.org.

http://news.com.com/Congress+readies...l?tag=nefd.top
http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/hr2391
I know laws and bills go through congress all the time and don't get passed, but yikes and lol simultaneously...

[Diff-chan]

Alberto Gonzalez is a terrorist.

[YellerDog]

This is fucking retarded. Did we run out of casual drug users to grease the wheels of the American penal system?

[Yoshi]

As long as I can rip CDs that I bought into MP3s, I don't care. If you're using shit you never paid for, you earned it.

[Diff-chan]

Fuck no. Someone gets thrown in jail for 10 years, and costs the taxpayers $400,000, because they downloaded a Sean Paul CD off Oink. Maybe in the Police State paradise Alberto Gonzalez is working towards but not in my USA.

[Razor Ramon]

As long as I can rip CDs that I bought into MP3s, I don't care. If you're using shit you never paid for, you earned it.

Theyv'e gotten to you.

[YellerDog]

Don't trust anyone over 30. Or approaching.

[Yoshi]

Fuck no. Someone gets thrown in jail for 10 years, and costs the taxpayers $400,000, because they downloaded a Sean Paul CD off Oink. Maybe in the Police State paradise Alberto Gonzalez is working towards but not in my USA.

Good point. Jail time doesn't make sense, but heavy fines do.

[g0zen]

Jail time for an offense like this is corporate police state gestapo tactics at it's worst. Next we'll see a bill legalizing on-the-spot dismemberment for stealing from Wal-Mart.

[gameoverDude]

I'm glad I didn't vote for W and The Dick in 2004. I'm sad that so many DID. I really wanted Michael Badnarik to be president. Since we can't have Badnarik as president, here's hoping he wins a seat on Congress in Texas.

Who does Lamar Smith "Represent"? Not the people. Politics + Lobbyists = One absolute hell of a clusterfuck. George Washington has to be crying in Heaven.

Jail time should be used strictly for violent offenders.