President George W. Bush is looking to get tougher punishment for pirates of music, movies, software, etc… Bush has asked Congress to create new laws that would put these pirates behind bars more easily. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, said this needs to be done because the money is going towards terrorism … ? What this would do:
- A change in the law that would recognize a copyright in a criminal case before it is filed with the Register of Copyrights so authorities don’t have to prove that thousands of works pirated over the Internet are all copyrighted.
- Expand the forfeiture and restitution requirements so that equipment, goods, records and other items used or intended for use in piracy are forfeited to the government and to hold pirates criminally libel for restitution for damages to the rights-holder.
- Make it a crime to attempt to infringe a copyright.
- Increase the amount of jail time for repeat offenders
- Clarify that importing and exporting infringed goods is illegal
- Allow authorities to obtain a wiretap for suspects in intellectual property crimes.
What they are talking about is the illegal selling of bootleg DVD movies and music CD’s, not some 12 year old downloading a Metallica song.
SOME proceeds from that have been linked to terrorist activities.
Punisher, Pirating does NOT just include bootleg DVDs and CDs, pirating is pirating. Also, nearly any activity can be linked to terrorist activity, but that is a lame excuse. That’s like saying we should ban people from selling guns because they are linked to terrorist activity, or we should ban the use of paper because the terrorists use that to write their plans.
“That’s like saying we should ban people from selling guns because they are linked to terrorist activity, or we should ban the use of paper because the terrorists use that to write their plans.”
Well it’s not really like either of those since selling guns and the use of paper are both legal practices to engage in. The fact of the matter is that piracy is illegal. While I find it difficult to see the correlation of piracy to terrorism the President of the United States of America is privvy to a few more articles of information than I am.
A better analogy might have been the illegal drug trade as it relates to terrorism.
At least it’s consistant with what Dubya’s been doing throughout his presidency:
1. Figure out the interests of industry. (In this case, MPAA and RIAA)
2. Sell it to people by linking it to terrorism.
3. Make laws to protect our freedom by restricting it. Make sure the law includes the word ‘patriot’ or ‘freedom’.
And it’s done. My hero Dubya!
Didn’t you know? The Chinese are all terrorists.
Why that’s just about where America is poiting their troups next! *points at Korea*