News.com reports that the Dept. of Justice is prepared to begin prosecuting people using peer-to-peer networks to swap copyrighted material, like music, movies and software. Apparently, the DOJ intends to use a little-known law called the NET Act, that says ” it is a federal crime to share copies of copyrighted products such as software, movies or music with anyone, even friends or family members, if the value of the work exceeds $1,000.”
I guess it’s time to start looking for more anonymity in our p2p programs. But my question is, how many high-profile arrests of 13 year-old white middle-class kids with straight A report-cards will be tolerated by the public as the stormtroopers invade the suburban cable-modem equipped computer room? Or is this just a scare-tactic? Unfortunately, I’m guessing we’ll find out the answer to these questions.
Oh, and let’s all do our part to make sure that the following RIAA and Hollywood whores in Congress don’t get re-elected: Sen. Joseph Biden, Rep. Lamar Smith, Rep. James Sensenbenner, Rep. Robert C. Scott, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Howard Coble, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Henry Hyde, Rep. Rick Santorum, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Sen. Gordon Smith, Rep. Robert Wexler, Rep. William L. Jenkins, Rep. Ed Bryant, Rep. Lindsey O. Graham, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, Rep. Ric Keller, Rep. Darrel Issa, Rep. Melissa Hart
All these elected officials signed on to a letter addressed to Atty. General Ashcroft urging him to go after operators of p2p networks and the people who use them. (letter via Politechbot)
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