www.POE-News.com wrote:Congress appears to be preparing assaults against peer-to-peer technology on multiple fronts.
A draft bill recently circulated among members of the House judiciary committee would make it much easier for the Justice Department to pursue criminal prosecutions against file sharers by lowering the burden of proof. The bill, obtained Thursday by Wired News, also would seek penalties of fines and prison time of up to ten years for file sharing.
In addition, on Thursday, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) introduced a bill that would allow the Justice Department to pursue civil cases against file sharers, again making it easier for law enforcement to punish people trading copyright music over peer-to-peer networks. They dubbed the bill "Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004," or the Pirate Act.
The bills come at a time when the music and movie industries are exerting enormous pressure on all branches of government at the federal and state levels to crack down on P2P content piracy. The industries also are pushing to portray P2P networks as dens of terrorists, child pornographers and criminals -- a strategy that would make it more palatable for politicians to pass laws against products that are very popular with their constituents.
Congress, We the People did not elect you to follow special interests for kickbacks. We elected you to represent us.
The industries also are pushing to portray P2P networks as dens of terrorists, child pornographers and criminals -- a strategy that would make it more palatable for politicians to pass laws against products that are very popular with their constituents.
Sort of like the rightwingers portraying the dems and liberals as terrorist and criminal appeasers~
Gotta love those scumbag tactics
"Right now we can tell you a report was filed by the family of a 12 year old boy yesterday afternoon alleging Mr. Michael Jackson of criminal activity. A search warrant has been filed and that search is currently taking place. Mr. Jackson has not been charged with any crime. We cannot specifically address the content of the police report as it is confidential information at the present time, however, we can confirm that Mr. Jackson forced the boy to listen to the Howard Stern show and watch the movie Private Parts over and over again."
Fuck you, Congress. I'll download whatever the hell I want.
Fragment of the Lord of Nightmares, release thy heavenly retribution. Blade of cold, black nothingness: become my power, become my body. Together, let us walk the path of destruction and smash even the souls of the Gods! RAGNA BLADE!
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Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
HemlockGrey wrote:Oh, come on. It's Orrin Hatch. Who's surprised? What is his deal, anyway?
I know he's a nut, but isn't he also the one who writes really crappy music and has this paranoia that someone will be downloading it and thus "stealing" it?
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
ah.....the path to happiness is revision of dreams and not fulfillment... -SWPIGWANG
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Anything worth the cost of a missile, which can be located on the battlefield, will be shot at with missiles. If the US military is involved, then things, which are not worth the cost if a missile will also be shot at with missiles. -Sea Skimmer
George Bush makes freedom sound like a giant robot that breaks down a lot. -Darth Raptor
great. more government assholes that want to ban a fucking technology that was already ruled to be fucking legal. these twats simply don't know when to give up.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
On a slightly different note, it sucks a lot how the really smart people are usually not interested enough in politics to be vocal, when on the other hand all the stupid people who really don't know what they're talking about are the ones who picket and form special interest groups and pay off congressmen.
Shinova wrote:On a slightly different note, it sucks a lot how the really smart people are usually not interested enough in politics to be vocal, when on the other hand all the stupid people who really don't know what they're talking about are the ones who picket and form special interest groups and pay off congressmen.
And this is why compulsory voting is a good thing. Financial incentive(aka fines) gets people of their ass and go down to a voting station, even if they dont vote(but since they are already there they might as well do something)
"Okay, I'll have the truth with a side order of clarity." ~ Dr. Daniel Jackson.
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias." ~ Stephen Colbert
"One Drive, One Partition, the One True Path" ~ ars technica forums - warrens - on hhd partitioning schemes.
Shinova wrote:On a slightly different note, it sucks a lot how the really smart people are usually not interested enough in politics to be vocal, when on the other hand all the stupid people who really don't know what they're talking about are the ones who picket and form special interest groups and pay off congressmen.
And this is why compulsory voting is a good thing. Financial incentive(aka fines) gets people of their ass and go down to a voting station, even if they dont vote(but since they are already there they might as well do something)
the main problem with compulsory voting of course, is that you get tons of people who are completely ignorant of the issues simply doing the equivalent of tossing a coin when they do vote. A better system may be to give preference to those that decide to vote, such as, say, a tax deduction or something similar. Imposing a punishment on someone for not doing something that has always been a choice would not go over well.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:For Sale: The Government of the United States of America. Corporations only; individuals need not apply.
Actually it was closer to $170,000, which made the entertainment industry the #2 contributor to him, behind attorneys.
EDIT:
I'd like to see a poll conducted in Utah and Vermont, asking these two guys' constitutients what issues they consider important. I get the feeling that intellectual property rights would be someone down below "preparing for the mothership's return."
"I am gravely disappointed. Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war."
--The Lord Humungus
Untill the RIAA bombed him with several million of these.
For Sale: The Government of the United States of America. Corporations only; individuals need not apply.
More reason to have a system where people don't get paid to be congressmen and have to hold normal jobs in order to make money, like in ancient Greece. Politics should be an endeavor, not a profession.
Sì! Abbiamo un' anima! Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot.
kojikun wrote:More reason to have a system where people don't get paid to be congressmen and have to hold normal jobs in order to make money, like in ancient Greece. Politics should be an endeavor, not a profession.
That would cut down on the amount of time they had to actually learn about the issues, and anyway people don't become politicians for the money in it.
"I am gravely disappointed. Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war."
--The Lord Humungus
Pablo Sanchez wrote:That would cut down on the amount of time they had to actually learn about the issues, and anyway people don't become politicians for the money in it.
I'd rather have longer time taken to make a good decision than a short time to make a bribe-based decision.
And ofcourse they do it for the money. Not for their own personal enrichment but for the campaign money, etc that keeps them in power.
Sì! Abbiamo un' anima! Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot.
kojikun wrote:I'd rather have longer time taken to make a good decision than a short time to make a bribe-based decision.
They would be much more likely to vote on gut instinct and make snap decisions without any knowledge of the problem. Debating a vote for too long makes you look indecisive, which is political death.
And ofcourse they do it for the money. Not for their own personal enrichment but for the campaign money, etc that keeps them in power.
You are correct... but you're contradicting yourself. Making congress a non-paying job would have absolutely no effect on this problem.
"I am gravely disappointed. Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war."
--The Lord Humungus
Pablo Sanchez wrote:They would be much more likely to vote on gut instinct and make snap decisions without any knowledge of the problem. Debating a vote for too long makes you look indecisive, which is political death.
Well, my ideas go beyond just what I described, but I figured they were too in depth to post here.
You are correct... but you're contradicting yourself. Making congress a non-paying job would have absolutely no effect on this problem.
You're right. I was hasty. But non-paying congress would still be better. As would a ban on campaign contributions from companies, etc.
Sì! Abbiamo un' anima! Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot.
kojikun wrote:You're right. I was hasty. But non-paying congress would still be better. As would a ban on campaign contributions from companies, etc.
I agree with a ban on corporate contributions. I think the real ideal would be a campaign which was decided on the merits of the candidates and their platform, rather than on which one mounts the superior advertising offensive. But even something as limited as McCain-Feingold had a devil of a time getting into law... I think it has to do with the same issue that's prevalent in this very thread, the subversion of human rights for corporate purposes.
During the run-up for campaign finance reform, every time one of the people complained that it would infringe upon free speech, I just thought, "Write a fucking letter."
"I am gravely disappointed. Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war."
--The Lord Humungus
