p2pnet.net News:- Senator Orrin Hatch’s Hollywood inspired Kill P2P Bill / PIRATE Act amends federal copyright law so the US attorney general can, “commence a civil action against any person who engages in conduct constituting copyright infringement”.

Short for Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004, it also, “Directs the AG to develop a program to ensure effective implementation and use of the authority for civil enforcement of the copyright laws, including training programs for qualified personnel from the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys Offices.”

It might better be called the Use Taxpayer Money to Protect Hollywood Profits Act and the Senate may vote on it as soon as next week, says a CNET story here.

And, “Unlike when the RIAA files its own lawsuits against peer-to-peer users, such as the 493 defendants it announced this week, the Justice Department likely would be able to seek wiretaps to collect evidence about P2P infringement,” states CNET.

This refers to another Hatch ‘protection’ measure, the PROTECT (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today) Act which, among other things, “Authorizes the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications in the investigation of kidnaping [sic], sex trafficking, and sex offenses against children”.

PROTECT has so far led to only one arrest, but it’s early days and Hollywood is nothing if not inventive in finding ways to interpret legislation to suit its purposes, whatever they may be at any given moment.

And let’s not forget the National Security Letters (NSLs) used by FBI agents to demand detailed information about people’s private Net communications from ISPs, web mail providers and other communications service providers.

In the meanwhile, in the CNET story RIAA lobbyist Mitch Glazier is quoted as saying. “If you’re going to try to make sure that you have effective deterrence, then one of the tools you’ll need is to make sure that prosecutors have flexibility.”

Glazier was once chief counsel, Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, and former chief of staff to Howard Coble, one-time chairman of the subcommittee.

He became (in)famous in 1999 after he slipped the “sound recording” amendment into the completely unrelated Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act, slated for safe passage through Congress.

This made music recordings ‘works for hire’ which in turn meant artists weren’t able to get possession of their own masters and naturally, the artists believed they’d been hung out to dry.

The scandal led to an oversight hearing in May, 2000, chaired by (you guessed it) Coble who led off with: “As many of you know, this amendment has caused some to criticize my colleagues, my staff, and me as having indulged in unfair, deceptive, and sneaky behavior”.

Be that as it may, Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a well-know supporter of all things Hollywood who last year expressed a serious interest in remotely terminating file swappers’ computers.

“No one is interested in destroying anyone’s computer,” Randy Saaf of MediaDefender, one of the LA scalp-hunting services used by Hollywood is quoted as saying in a Wired News story here.

“I’m interested,” Hatch interrupted. Damaging someone’s computer “may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights”.

He was subsequently dubbed Terminator after the murderous android portrayed by now California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Terminator series.

Back to Hatch’s PIRATE act, its foes, “have been alarmed by the unusual alacrity of the proposal’s legislative progress,” says CNET. “It was introduced just two months ago, on March 25, and not one hearing was held before the Judiciary committee forwarded it to the full Senate for a vote a month later.”

“Under a 1997 law called the No Electronic Theft Act, federal prosecutors can file criminal charges against peer-to-peer users who make a large number of songs available for download,” says the story. “A July 2002 letter from prominent congressmen to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft urged the prosecution of Americans who “allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks.”

“But not one peer-to-peer criminal prosecution has taken place in the United States. The Justice Department has indicated that it won’t target peer-to-peer networks for two reasons: Imprisoning file-swapping teens on felony charges isn’t the department’s top priority, and it’s always difficult to make criminal charges stick.

“The Pirate Act was crafted to respond to the Justice Department’s concern. ‘Federal prosecutors have been hindered in their pursuit of pirates by the fact that they were limited to bringing criminal charges with high burdens of proof,’ Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in March. ‘Prosecutors can rarely justify bringing criminal charges, and copyright owners have been left alone to fend for themselves, defending their rights only where they can afford to do so. In a world in which a computer and an Internet connection are all the tools you need to engage in massive piracy, this is an intolerable predicament’.”

Critics also charge the act, “may invent a form of double jeopardy,” reports CNET. “It would let the RIAA sue the same people already sued by the Justice Department.”

And back to senators Hatch and Leahy, in the 2002 cycle Hollywood (music, tv and the movies) supported Hatch to the tune of $175,332 and so far in 2004, has pumped $157,860 into his coffers.

Leahy’s top supporters for 2004 are Walt Disney Co - $44,500); Viacom Inc - $36,000; Time Warner - $28,250; and, General Electric - $22,500. At $160,250, Leahy’s top contributor in 2002 was, once again, Hollywood and for 2004, he’s so far chalked up $181,000.

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NOTE: If you want to sign a petition calling on your local senator to oppose PIRATE, go here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2004 at 7:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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