Andre Yoskowitz
30 Jun 2007 7:54
Last month, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called for a very aggressive re-write of criminal copyright laws, some so harsh that it even included prison time for "attempted" copyright infringement, a life sentence for using pirated software and the ability to use more expansive wiretapping on suspects.
On Wednesday, he went even farther, and the full text can be found here for those interested.
"IP (intellectual property) theft is not a technicality, and its victims are not just faceless corporations--it is stealing, and it affects us all," Gonzales said, at an intellectual property event sponsored by the lobby group TechNet. "Those who seek to undermine this cornerstone of U.S. economic competitiveness believe that they are making easy money; that they are beyond the law. It is our responsibility and commitment to show them that they are wrong."
He also reminded us that his department submitted the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 in May to Congress. The bill would allow for easier seizures of computers and other assets "used to commit copyright crimes", as well as punish certain attempted copyright crimes. The kicker of the bill is the fact that Homeland Security will be required to notify the RIAA of any attempts to import "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance."
Luckily for Americans, the Attorney General isn't very popular among Congress and so the bill's future is in doubt but last I checked Homeland Security was not receiving my hard earned tax money to go around stopping "attempted" pirates.
Source:
News.com