The chinese government is bringing in even tougher penalties against internet porn peddlers.

Those caught for 'serious offenses' could now face life imprisonment while less serious cases could result in compulsory surveillance, detainment, taking into custody by the police.

Just in case you were wondering what the Chinese would consider a 'serious' case. Xinhua kindly points out that any pornographic Web site that had been clicked on more than 250,000 times would be considered a "very severe" case that could warrant a life sentence for its owners.

U.S. agents have raided the homes of five people who allegedly traded hundreds of thousands of songs, movies and other copyrighted material over the Internet, Attorney General John Ashcroft says.

Until now, the Justice Department has only pursued elite groups of hackers who steal and distribute movies, music and software before their official release dates.

Targeted in the raids were people operating "hubs" in a file-sharing network based on Direct Connect software.

In order to join the network, members had to promise to provide between one and 100 gigabytes of material to trade, or up to 250,000 songs, Ashcroft said.

Each of the five hubs contained 40 petabytes of data, the equivalent of 60,000 movies or 10.5 million songs, Ashcroft said.

A group of individual CD buyers in France, combined with a French consumer association, have filed a lawsuit against EMI and a record store for selling copy protected CDs, suggesting there has been "deception over the material qualities of a product," since many copy protected CDs don't work well in car stereos or on computers. The record store in question claims they clearly warn consumers of the possibility and offer to refund money if the CDs don't work. As backwards as the policy of copy protection on CDs is (punishing your legitimate buyers, while doing little to stop actual copying) this case seems fairly weak. While the recording industry is obviously a huge fan of lawsuits, suing them back isn't the answer. Making them realize that copy protection is bad for their business is the only way the industry is going to change.

JibJab, creators of the hilarious parody of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land is Your Land' featuring Pres. Bush and Sen. Kerry, were first threatened with a lawsuit and then, with the help of EFF, went to court first in a pre-emptive strike. Well, EFF discovered that the song has actually been in the public domain since 1973 because it was first published in a songbook [PDF] in 1945 and the copyright was never renewed. The case has now been settled. Here are some addtional links.

The representative for Hollywood's major movie studios on Monday said its members have sued two microchip makers, alleging they sold their products to makers of equipment that can be used to illegally copy DVDs.

The MPAA said the suits against Sigma Designs Inc. (SIGM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and MediaTek Inc. (2454.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) followed testing that it said proved the two were selling microchips to companies, whose DVD players lack what the MPAA called "appropriate security features."

The CSS license pact has aided the success of DVDs because it has provided protection against illegal copying to copyright owners of movies, television shows and other content sold on DVD.

Just when you thought software licensing enforcement couldn't get any more fun, the copyright cops at the Business Software Alliance have enlivened the process with a spunky cartoon ferret.

The comic will feature the droopy-drawers ferret, who for now is referred to as the "Copyright Crusader." Kids are urged to help select his final name by submitting votes next month through the BSA's Web site.

The ferret, by the way, does seem to be an odd mascot choice for an organization devoted to strict legal adherence, given that the weasel-like mammals are outlawed in California and several other states.

The Congressional chatter about 'canning spam', in the CAN-SPAM law since January, has turned out to really mean 'they can still spam'. TechWeb News reports that 'In July, compliance fell for the first time under one percent to a measly 0.54 percent', from its 3% max. The researchers claim the ball has been dropped by 'law enforcement'. Those police are probably too busy deleting the 80% spam from their email, like everyone else.

"The FCC has unanimously approved the U.S. Justice Department's bid to expand CALEA to broadband and VoIP networks, according to reports from SecurityFocus and News.com. This means, following a mandatory public comment period, service providers will have to wire their networks for easy law enforcement surveillance, the way phone companies do now. The feds have wanted this for a long time." Ebon Praetor adds a link to Reuters' version, writing "In addition, the FCC has decided that the push-to-talk, or walkie-talkie, functions available on phones from Nextel should also be subject to the same tapping regulations that regular phones are."

Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, has launched a legal battle against dozens of online pharmacies that sell counterfeit or illegal generic versions of its drug.

The company on Tuesday also announced an advertising campaign to educate consumers on how to avoid deceptive Web sites, safely purchase Viagra online, and minimize Viagra-related spam.

The drug giant is suing five companies and individuals--Oriontech, You Save RX, CNR International, Charles William Naron and Doug Hollenbeck--alleging violation of state and federal trademark rules and unfair competition laws.

The company is working with the Department of Justice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration to prosecute counterfeiters. Pfizer said that while some Web sites sell generic Viagra, the FDA has not approved a generic version of the drug.

A federal court this week shut down a big-time Florida spammer and froze his assets, using the CAN-SPAM Act to put a stop to his mass mailings. Creaghan A. Harry is "responsible for what likely amounts to millions of illegal spam messages," said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a statement.

The FTC filed a complaint in a Chicago federal court July 21, alleging that Harry used a slew of tactics that violate the CAN-SPAM Act, including spoofing forging return addresses and sending messages through hijacked computers, dubbed "open proxies."

On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Harry from further spamming and blocked his assets, which had been transferred to a bank account in Latvia. If Harry is convicted, those monies would be used to refund consumers who bought the phony products.