Re: [dvd-discuss] Geeks in government: A good idea?

[Kurt Hockenbury <khockenb(at)stevens-tech.edu>]

On Thu, 22 Aug 2002, Dean Sanchez wrote:

> Once people start getting prosecuted for swapping files, how many of the
> supposed 70 million p2p users will continue?  I seem to remember someone
> making the argument here that people didn't have anything to worry about
> because the IP industry couldn't go after every individual user.  They don't
> have to, they just get the government to do it for them.  They also have a
> way of sidestepping the public's backlash by saying "we didn't do anything,
> the Justice Department is just enforcing the law".

As I've said before, this is possibly the worst part of the DMCA.  By shifting
copyright infringement from civil to criminal, corporations force taxpayers to
pay for the prosecution, and as we've seen with Adobe, can even "recant"
after they've turned someone in, if there is a public-relations issue.