The Bush administration is supporting a new intellectual property (IP) law that should be opposed by any sane individual. Of course, that excludes most politicians who are lining their pockets with money from the entertainment industry.
What is going on? The White House is supporting the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007…a horrendous bill that includes the following:
1. Making it a crime to attempt copyright infringement. In other words, you do not have to actually infringe on a copyright. Simply attempting to do so is a crime. And who decides what is an attempt? Does thinking about copying a CD constitute a crime? Bet it does to RIAA.
2. You could be sentenced to up to life in prison for using pirated software. Call this the “Bill Gates” provision.
And it gets worse…
3. Instead of tracking terrorists, Homeland Security gets to track bootleg CDs and report to RIAA when it finds them being imported. Who cares about that dirty bomb being smuggled? Apparently it is more important to track black market Britney Spears and Beyonce.
Call your Congressional representatives and let them know that you oppose this monstrosity and will vote against any politician who supports it.
Hat tip to Declan McCullagh at CNetNews.com.
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