p2pnet.net News:- Hollywood has finally found a way to link copyright infringement directly to terrorism, giving it reason to demand even more powerful connections with international law agencies to protect ‘product’.

“There is new evidence that terrorist organizations around the world are getting at least some of their funding from the sale of illegally copied intellectual property, including pirated DVDs and CDs, according to Interpol and copyright trade groups,” says a Hollywood Reporter story here.

The Reporter, a favoured Hollywood information dissemination organ, says Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble prepared the report for America’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee, examining the impact of international copyright piracy. Conveniently, a copy reached the Reporter.

Noble has an impressive background with different US law enforcement organizations and according to his paper, intellectual property crimes are a growing resource for terrorist groups from Northern Ireland to the Arab world, “including al-Qaida and Hizbullah”.

Moreover, “the RIAA has evidence that a pair of illegal CD plants in Pakistan is financed by Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim the Treasury Department named a ’specially designated global terrorist’ in October”.

Intellectual property theft is not confined to entertainment products, the story points out. However, it “appears” to be something “terrorist groups are willing to exploit”.

The report “raised eyebrows” at the committee hearing at which was none other than MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss Jack Valenti who theorized that while, unlike the RIAA, the studios had no knowledge that funds generated from pirated movies paid for terrorist operations, copyright piracy was an easy way for any criminal organization to make money.

“It’s nirvana for criminals,” the Reporter quotes him as saying. “It is a ripe, rich, fat target to deal with. It stands to reason that if it’s low-risk, high-return and if you get caught it’s a slap on the wrist, then criminals are going to do it.”

Right. Stands to reason. And if Jack says it’s so - or that it could be so - then it’s so. Or it might be.

Terrorist connection
“The terrorist connection is but one of the reasons Washington needs to pressure other states into enacting and enforcing strong anti-piracy laws, executives with the entertainment and software industries told the committee,” says the Hollywood Reporter.

The “executives with the entertainment and software industries ” may have been referring to legislation such as Senator Kevin Murray’s SB 1506 ‘True Name and Address‘ bill which would force everyone in California, children included, to put their real names and addresses on any and all files they share.

Sponsored by the MPAA, under it, “A minor who violated the statute would have to pay a fine of $250 for a first or second offense and a fine not to exceed $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail, or both, for a third or subsequent violation”. This would give state and local law enforcement, “a greater ability to combat what is essentially the theft of creative works,” Murray states.

Or at least, he did on May 22 when we visited the site.

Anyway, violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2500 and/or up to one year imprisonment, although, “The penalties do not apply to those distributing files to their immediate family or within their home networks.”

Then there’s senator Orrin ‘Terminator’ Hatch’s PIRATE Act which 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.

There’s also another Hatch favourite, 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.

Adding a dash of ‘Nuance’
Meanwhile, RIAA boss Mitch Bainwol wants the US to consider revoking the “Generalized System of Preferences” a special trade status that lowers tariffs on goods for at least some of the suspect countries, says the story, quoting him as saying, “For Russia and Brazil the time for a GSP decision is ripe.You can treat it with nuance. You can make it whole or in part.”

But that’s not all.

While international copyright piracy is a problem, other copyright barriers are just as troubling, the executives said. Apparently, China only allows 20 US films to be imported each year, and a recent decision by the government to prevent this summer’s releases from being shown in China before the fall exacerbate [sic] the problem, Valenti said.

“It’s impossible to fight piracy unless there is a legitimate exhibition,” he said. “By the time these films get in legitimate theaters there will be millions of illegal copies on the street.”

What a wonderful marketing argument.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2004 at 8:12 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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