US DoJ offers to jail copyright infringers

Found on The Register on Friday, 11 November 2005
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US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has proposed tough new copyright enforcement laws that would criminalise consumers simply for trying to make unauthorised copies of music, movies and software, whether they are successful or not.

Dubbed the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005 (IPPA), the bill, which has yet to be put before the US Congess, seeks to provide harsher penalties for copyright infringers, in particular those who do so persistently.

For tougher sentences, think not only bigger fines, but also jail terms, the seizure of equipment used to make illegal copies and the payment of compensation to the owner of the copied work, Gonzales indicated.

Gonzales' IPPA proposal comes after the US Supreme Court ruled that anyone seen to be knowingly aiding and abetting copyright infringement can be sued by copyright holders. That judgement led to renewed efforts by the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) to force P2P companies to block copyright infringement and to obtain licences to allow copyright works to be shared.

If you share files, you go to jail, just like all the other terrorists. Is there nobody at the top who thinks this is a little too weird? There was something like the evolution of the market once, but now it's all about criminalizing those who don't like your ideas of a controlled and unfair market. There's not much to say about Gonzales, except that he's from Texas and a buddy of Dubya. More details are available at Wikipedia.