Re: [dvd-discuss] Digital Millennium Anti-Connectivity Act Introduced

[microlenz(at)earthlink.net]

On 17 Jul 2003 at 8:52, Marcia Wilbur wrote:

Date sent:      	Thu, 17 Jul 2003 08:52:07 -0700 (PDT)
From:           	Marcia Wilbur <aicra@well.com>
To:             	dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
Subject:        	Re: [dvd-discuss] Digital Millennium Anti-Connectivity Act 
Introduced
Send reply to:  	dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu

> If this goes through, there goes my whole AHRA arguement.
> 
> Question, since it would be a new act or say newer law, how would that
> work if it conflicts with current law?~
> 
> And well, frankly, I understand the ethic or financial issues involved,
> but isn't making song sharing a felony a little extreme?
> 
> Does this mean that for every time I lost money I could pass a law...
> 
> 

Ironically this may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. U.S.Grant once 
stated that the way to get rid of a stupid law was to enforce it rigorously.

Criminal penalties are imposed for crimes against the state. How does P2P stack 
up against murder, rape, robbery, assault?

"Your honor. My client may have just run 9 people down in XXXXXX  but he did no 
file sharing on the internet"

"That's good. I will suspend 9 counts of vehicular homicide but had he been 
file sharing...it would be 25yrs!"

> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, 17 Jul 2003, Seth Johnson wrote:
> 
> >
> > (There's just no stopping them.  First the DMCA; now a "DMACA."  Utterly
> > unwilling to confront reality, they simply turn their fellow citizens into
> > felons, rather than consider that outmoded, unfounded, and useless notions of
> > exclusive rights must not be allowed to take priority over newfound capacities
> > to exercise our freedoms.  -- Seth)
> >
> > > http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Politics&storyId=764305
> >
> >
> > Bill Would Put Net Song Swappers in Jail
> >
> > By Andy Sullivan
> > Wednesday, July 16, 2003 5:10 p.m. ET
> >
> >
> > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Internet users who allow others to copy songs from
> > their hard drives could face prison time under legislation introduced by two
> > Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday.
> >
> > The bill is the strongest attempt yet to deter the widespread online song
> > copying that recording companies say has led to a decline in CD sales.
> >
> > Sponsored by Michigan Rep. John Conyers and California Rep. Howard Berman, the
> > bill would make it easier to slap criminal charges on Internet users who copy
> > music, movies and other copyrighted files over "peer-to-peer" networks.
> >
> > The recording industry has aggressively pursued Napster, Kazaa and other
> > peer-to-peer networks in court and recently announced it planned to sue
> > individual users as well.
> >
> > In a series of hearings on Capitol Hill last spring, lawmakers condemned
> > online song swapping and expressed concern the networks could spread
> > computer viruses, create government security risks and allow children access
> > to pornography.
> >
> > Few online copyright violators have faced criminal charges so far. A New
> > Jersey man pleaded guilty to distributing a digital copy of the movie "The
> > Hulk" in federal court three weeks ago, but the Justice Department has not
> > taken action against Internet users who offer millions of copies of songs each
> > day.
> >
> > The Conyers-Berman bill would operate under the assumption that each
> > copyrighted work made available through a computer network was copied at
> > least 10 times for a total retail value of $2,500. That would bump the
> > activity from a misdemeanor to a felony, carrying a sentence of up to five
> > years in jail.
> >
> > It would also outlaw the practice of videotaping a movie in the theater, a
> > favorite illicit method of copying movies.
> >
> > "While existing laws have been useful in stemming this problem, they simply do
> > not go far enough," said Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary
> > Committee.
> >
> > A Conyers staffer said the bill had won the backing of many Democrats but
> > Republicans had yet to endorse it.
> >
> > The staffer said backers hoped to discuss the bill at a hearing on Thursday
> > and combine it next week with another sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Lamar
> > Smith.
> >
> > A Smith spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > DRM is Theft!  We are the Stakeholders!
> >
> > New Yorkers for Fair Use
> > http://www.nyfairuse.org
> >
> > [CC] Counter-copyright: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/cc/cc.html
> >
> > I reserve no rights restricting copying, modification or distribution of
> > this incidentally recorded communication.  Original authorship should be
> > attributed reasonably, but only so far as such an expectation might hold for
> > usual practice in ordinary social discourse to which one holds no claim of
> > exclusive rights.
> >
> >
>