DOJ Getting Ready To Throw File Traders In Jail
from the interesting-use-of-resources dept
Well, here it comes. The Department of Justice is now saying that they want to get out the message that file trading is illegal and they're going to put people in jail to prove it. The article includes the usual ridiculous quotes from people who clearly don't know what they're talking about, but (even worse) think they do. My favorite, of course, is this one: "Most parents would be horrified if they walked into a child's room and found 100 stolen CDs...However, these same parents think nothing of having their children spend time online downloading hundreds of songs without paying a dime." I love how they simplify the issue as if a digital copy of something is the equivalent of stealing a tangible item. Anyway, that statement seems to make it clear that they're looking to throw children with no money into prison for "stealing millions of dollars" worth of "intelltectual property". Doesn't the Justice Department have something better to do with their time?
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Why you may ask?
Think "Drug War." This all sounds too familiar. There is no question that file sharing copyrighted material is wrong but there is a wonderful tradition in this country of prosecutors going for the easy kill.
It's a shame - a few bad CEOs can easily steal much more (and they have) than all this file sharing. It's certainly not a matter of total fiscal damage to the economy, it's all a matter of the number of teenagers you can scare. When will they finally start printing conviction rates right next to the batting averages?
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This REALLY Pisses me OFF!!!
We are in the middle of fighting Al Queda, trying to find and bring terrorists to jail, and keep everyone safe and the DoJ feels they have to divert money to track down Sammy the File Trader and Freddy the Security Researcher as Terrorists.
Please, if there is any intelligence left in the Justice Department, please spend my Tax dollars keeping me safe from those with guns and bombs who would rather see me dead than chasing around someone who is not even proven to, and the facts are proving otherwise, have an affect on the wallets of the Entertainment industry.
No more federal subsidization of Millionaires.
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Keeping industry fat on our blood.
Does this really surprise anyone? Between the trained monkeys that we have running the country and the best part of big industry writing our laws, this is really the only result that we can come to.
It'll be easier, soon, when they keep all the money and resources for themselves and throw us any scraps that happen to be left over.
I'm moving to the top of Greenland...if they want me, they'll have to work for it.
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Unequal prosecution terms
I hate to be so bold, but are crimes like rape and murder even considered Federal crimes? By fully enforcing this squirrely law, the government appears to be suggesting that swapping CDs is such a crime that it is on par with other federal crimes. If the protection of the creators of Intellectual Property is so precious to the leaders of this country, then why are they not putting more effort into investigating RecordCompany business and contract tactics, Media Company rights issues (faking copyright docs), and similar problems. Although Hollywood is a big industry, I fear that Stardom has fooled members of Congress into aggressive acts the same way RecordComanies get kids with cars to do their dirty work for the price of free CDs.
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Re: Unequal prosecution terms
Whether or not a crime is considered a 'federal offense' has little to do with the severity of the crime.
For a crime to land in federal court, in general, the nature of the crime must cross state lines. Hence drug trafficing, money laundering, and such are usually prosecuted at the federal level.
So it is with file trading. Usually it's a crime that's committed across state lines.
At any rate, I'm spending my spare time thinking of placard jingos for when I join the street protests that will inevitably arise when file traders end up in court -- a la Sergi the Russian dude that was jailed in San Jose for the DMCA violation about a year ago.
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