This is my opinion and my opinion only, BUT, I had to make this observation.

If it is true that the FBI's top three concerns now are :
1) Terrorism
2) Counterintelligence
and coming in at number three
3) Copyright and Intellectual Property Protection....

My only thought is... inmates are running the asylum.

In the past two years, we have seen that corporate crime, Enron and others, have had a devastating impact on our country. People lost millions. Older folks lost their savings, and other people lost vast amounts of hard earned money as a result of criminal activity. We've seen other corporate criminal activity that has had devastating effects on many, many ordinary Americans. But, does that rate on the "Top Three" concerns ? Apparently not.

Let's think about the list. Terrorism. Granted, on September 11th, many , many folks lost loved ones and my heart genuinely goes out to the friends and family.
And, given that this event happened, I can see terrorism rising on the chart, but, lemme ask you. Annually, do more people get killed by foreign terrorists, or people driving while intoxicated ? There's no question.

While you are sleeping in your house, are you more likely to have your vehicle stolen or vandalized by an agent of Al Qaeda, or a street punk living not far from you, with no political agenda whatsoever? No question.

Crime, planned, perpetrated, and executed by American citizens, can potentially affect us in our daily lives.

I submit that any of us, has more to fear from our fellow citizens on a daily basis, than we will ever have to fear from Osama or any other foreign terrorist.

Now, onto their number two...
counterintelligence. I wasn't really sure what they meant by that, so I looked up a definiton on hyperdictionary.com. It said:

"Definition: [n] intelligence activities concerned with identifying and counteracting the threat to security posed by hostile intelligence organizations or by individuals engaged in espionage or sabotage or subversion or terrorism ."

Wait a second, isn't this just about getting information about terrorism and terrorists? Sure it is, so, shouldn't number two just be part of number one, since it is just one part of trying to deal with terrorism, by getting intel about them?

So, if we move number two up with number one...this means that the Number One concern of the FBI, after worrying about terrorists and getting information on them, is
"protecting copyright and intellectual property".

Now, sometimes I get carried away, but just from the standpoint of the public welfare, does anyone have any statistics on how many people are killed because of copyright infringement each year?

Does anyone have any statistics on how many elderly folks lost all their money because of copyright infringement?

Does anyone have stats on how many people walk out to find their car missing due to intellectual property abuse?

Does anyone have stats on how many missing kids out there are missing due to the evils of trademark dilution ?

Does anyone have stats on how many morgues are filling up because of copyright infringement?

So....that's what this country has come to after Mr. Bush has been in office for almost 4 years. Our top two concerns are now, terrorism (and needing info on it)
and copyright infringement.

Counterfeiting of money has obviously been solved, so the Secret Service/Treasury agents probably have free time.

Illicit drugs have been fixed, so that now, the FBI can worry about copyright infringement.

Hate crimes have just about disappeared, so no worries with that.

Police brutality no longer exists, so the FBI doesn't have to worry about that.

Organized hate groups like the KKK no longer do anything wrong, so they don't need to worry about that.

Of course I am being sarcastic. All these problems are still here. People get raped, killed, abused by police, kids are abused by adults, people counterfeit money, murderers get released on the streets and re-offend,. corporate crime rocks along...robbing the government, robbing customers..., banks and insurance companies continue to rip people off...but, all that is insignificant, right?

The real menance, the real evil that can reach into your home and harm you...something that really is a number two priority position...is the due to protect at all costs.."intellectual property".

Look...I had someone try to steal my truck once. The cop said in another minute, they would have made it, but, the cop didn't seem to care and did nothing to investigate it beside filling out his little report. You think I am worried about Osama hiding out in a cave in Pakistan, or "kept on ice" ready for release before the election?

I would like to suggest the "general welfare" that the government is supposed to provide for, is not served by worrying about copyright infringement, during a time when people are losing jobs, houses, and health insurance right and left.

I would like to suggest that perhaps, the FBI's list of priorities is screwed up,
and believe that citizens should let their congress people know that, as a voting block, we do NOT want our FBI putting copyright infringement in the number two position of priority.

This country has very, very serious problems. Loss of civil rights, loss of personal liberties, loss of privacy, loss of jobs, loss of confidence in business....these are far more serious than some record exec whining like a little tattletale in school that "Joanie copied my songs....Joanie copied my songs."

Geez Louise...This is NUTS!

I keep hearing the newsman from NETWORK the movie saying "I'm mad as hell..."
in my mind.

To me...saying that protecting intellectual property rights is priority number two or three for the FBI, is like a guy who's car is hurtling toward a cliff, playing with the radio because he can't get his favorite talk show to come in clear.

We need redirection with regard to government, and need it badly!

I expect next, they will decide that they need to go from house to house seeing if you pulled that tag off your mattres or not...
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.................................

Correct me if I am wrong, but did I already say, fuck these guys?

Does anyone know whwre I can get a guillotine? Preferably, a self propelled one. We appear to be due for some serious blood letting.

I am debating weather to call them up. Their site is clearly offensive and does not use proper legal definition..

It is obvious the interest groups have hijacked our criminal investigation wing of government.

Im afraid, however im not very tactful. You can call them up and cite how that 20 billion dollars is wrong or unproven and how the 9th district courts had to correct the special interests and dictate that "piracy" and "theft" were not to be used in their courtroom.

As I read this....if you are a serial killer...catching you has dropped a few notches...UNLESS you start downloading RIAA tunes from a victim's house.

That's when you will fall into their crosshairs....

"Our number one mission is to protect you from foreign terrorists, and our number two mission, is to lock you up for violation of RIAA copyright rights"...

As a side note, I had to go get gas for my truck, and while I was in the convenience store paying for it...noticed amid the pre-pay phone cards...a $14.85 pre paid NAPSTER SONG DOWNLOAD CARD...I had to rub my eyes a couple times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating...sadly, I wasn't.

The Cat is back...too bad!

Isn't it comforting to know that our country has become so technical and abstract, that "protecting copyright and intellectual property" is more important than protecting you....

they have to hunt down terrorists...and when there's no terrorists, hunt down kids at home in front of their computers....

If our government was a human, it would be washing its hands for the 200th time today....

it's gonna blow Code and it won't be pretty.

IM SERIOUS! This amounts to Libel agaist the american public. to say thier activities in accordance with the ahra is criminal, and then plaster every digital medium with that blatant accusation of theft!

I don't think any of this is directly related to dubya being in the white house... I mean, how can you prevent a new kind of terrorist attack? Attacking the terrorists is the best plan for this country... and I'm glad they screen people at the airports to prevent a WTC attack from happening again (and they have intercepted such incidents). So in conclusion, I would totally agree with 1 and 2 on the list.

But number 3? I don't think so.

This is how I would do it:
First objective is to remove all violent crime in decending order.
Then, non or semi-violent crime in decending order. billion dollar frauds, spam (no really!), etc.
Down way at the bottom, would be downloading copyrighted material.

Wow, things like white collar crime, fraud, robbery, embezzlement, murder, crimes of violence, drugs just don't matter anymore.

Just gotta go after those 12 year old Kazaa users. The world will be a better place when we have all of them locked up behind bars.

It truly is a sad day for democracy when you see this happening. It blows my mind, that a branch of the American government sees this as a "Number 3 Priority" when there are so many other problems that the US faces (and I don't mean the phony terrorist thing). It all boils down to Corruption and money. Somehow the FBI has just been bought by the RIAA!!

Fellow Canadians, don't worry the Mounties will be next at the CRIA trough. Don't be suprized if the Liberals set up a sponsorship program to go along with it.

Strangely enough, it's legal here to download, but not to upload. Let me throw this out there. If I share files from a CD that I purchased, what makes me a criminal when compared to the Public Library down the street? We are both providing the same service. I would simply be lending the file to the borrower.

I have thought it over and think that site adheres to the legal definition enough to warrent a suit for libel. I wish to organize a class action suit against the fbi for libel against a very substantial section of the american and world population.

Haven't we beat this story to death? Four articles in one day on the same topic?

nope
When the FBI decides that going after copyright infringers is number three (basically number two) on their priority list....it deserves comment and discussion.

some of the other FBI pieces were about just the adding of the sticker...so technically...this is not just about the sticker issue, but about the priorities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

So, there have not REALLY been four articles on the same topic.

The other FBI related topic was "The FBI has a "Cyberletter" for You . The cyberletter is a statement on their website, an open letter to P2P users...
so it is not exactly the same as this thread, or the sticker thread...

There have been four stories INVOLVING or referencing the FBI ...but they are not the same topic in my opinion....unless you would say this site carries lots of article a day about the same topic...i.e. actions of the RIAA.

ps George...spareme made a comment on threat 10524 you may want to respond to,...I don't know...
...I out my two bits in

spareme
Date: February 20, 2004 @ 8:38 PM

thread...not threat...lol...that's Thread 10524...gotta quit for tonight...not typing well at all..

And they still cannot find Bin Laden.

Shows you how much they pay attention to item #1.

You ARE on a roll Code....

I doubt piracy, being either p2p or otherwise, is any kind of priority in the law enforcement world. Don't mistake press for anything other than mass-media advertising. Just because CNN.com has a bunch of stories about lawsuits and details of seminars and conventions doesn't mean anything in regards to law enforcement. This is all private interest - driven.

Well, seeing as how George Dubya Bush is the boss of the FBI, lets all write him and suggest that he have the Feds move corporate corruption ahead of copyright infringement on their priority list.
Well, that was good for a belly laugh, at least as long as Dubya is the prime beneficiary of all that corruption, and can divert the FBI's attention away from it by ordering them to go after downloaders and CD burners.

The FBI needs to stop being too protective over their country. What P2P does for the people is give us a chance to enjoy things and tell people and relative family members about, it, so they listen to it or watch it and go out and get the CD and DVD of it. I appreciate their hard work, but this is where I drop the line on it.

Actually, I'm of the opinion that the FBI shouldn't be so concerned about drugs. I read a book recently called "Smoke and Mirrors" by Dan Baum which pretty much convinced me that the prohibition against drugs is what has caused the widespread drug problem in America.

But I do agree that intellectual property should be waaaay down on the list.

And while we're bitching about crime, lets raise the statute of limitations on rape cases. One out of every 5 women will be raped before they turn 65, its become some grizzly rite of passage for women and girls. Copyright infringement doesn't even rank close to that for impact on another's life.

this is scary. what happens if they start treating p2p use like drug traffiking or real terrorist plots. i can imagine, if they start bumping this up a notch, the fbi breaking down your door, shooting your dog, handcuffing you, if your lucky they might tell you your rights, and then bring you away to who knows where. then imagine if you owned a weapon. that will give them a reason to shoot first ask questions later. they would stake out your house, put a sniper across the street, break down your door, shoot your dog, your daughter might jump up scared that they are robbers and try to run out, they would shoot her in the back, your teenage son upstairs would be thinking the same thing and try to get out of a window, but dont worry, the fbi's top sniper is on it, he puts one right between his forhead, then finally, if they didnt kill you and your wife yet, they would arrest you and your wife as being an accomplice. the crime? P2P File Sharing. has anyone thought of these possiblities? what would you do?

oh my god, i just read their site. Does the number

"Does the number TWENTY THREE BILLION DOLLARS get your attention?

That's how much money was lost last year as a result of criminals swiping copyright-protected digital copies of music, movies, software, and games... and distributing them through websites, chat rooms, mass email, FTP, and peer-to-peer networks."

thats it, our own government agency has just labeled us as criminals. we are not criminals! we are everyday americans! we serve your food, make your house, build your road, give your your medicine... our own government has just declared war on most of the US population.

Code, i tend to believe youse theory on osama on ice until election time. What are the fbi $$ stats on corporate crime ??? humm 10/4 flibgbt

it isn't illegal for the owner of the matress to pull off the tage, heh the Fibs will never get into my box, ever.

This is sickening. Now the FBI is going to spend millions of dollars on hunting down P2P users? That's the sign of a "more serious Bureau?"

The statement below is not from CNN or the press..but from the FBI website...

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel02/outreach071702.htm
"Intellectual property crime is a priority for U.S. Customs and the FBI."

Also, in a CNet interview with the man who was the head of FBI cybersecurity then..(not now)...Larry Mefford...
please see his comments as spokesman for the FBI in answer to this question :
"Your division and appointment were announced back in April. Last month, the Bureau announced a major overhaul, and cybersecurity was listed as the No. 3 priority. How does that affect what you're doing? Clearly, being prioritized to that degree affects us significantly. We're in the process of creating this division from scratch. Historically, the responsibilities to address some of the activity we're talking about were fragmented among many different management units. It was difficult for the community and the private sector to interface with us as an organization (because you) had to go to various points. Clearly, 9/11 had an impact on our reorganization, and one area was an initiative to improve the efficiency of operations."

Also this quote from the article :
"A recent reorganization placed fighting cybercrime at the top of the Bureau's priorities. "

And that's from 2002...it's even more considered a priority by them now.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/02/19/HNfbipiracy_1.html?security
"The FBI's Monroe did not have available figures on how much money has been budgeted for the new seal campaign, or for the FBI's larger crusade against digital piracy, but she said the agency's resource commitment to protecting intellectual property is significant. Fighting cybercrime is now the FBI's number-three priority, she said, ranking behind battling terrorism and conducting counterintelligence operations."

So, these do not seem like they are news organization puffery, but a restatement and renewed emphasis on the priority of cybercrime and especially, chasing copyright infringers.

Also, this "priority number three number" business was NOT a fabrication of the news media...it comes directly from the Dept. of Justice
"'Operation E-Con' covers variety of crimes

By Carlos Campos
Cox News Service

WASHINGTON | Federal authorities said Friday they had arrested more than 130 people in a nationwide five-month crackdown on Internet fraud that bilked victims out of more than $176 million.

At a news conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft called Internet fraud and other forms of online crime ‘‘among the fastest-growing’’ in the nation. Other Justice Department officials noted that cybercrime has become the FBI’s third highest priority, behind counterterrorism and intelligence-gathering efforts."

Cybercrime of course involves things other than IP issues, such as viruses, credit card fraud, etc., but from all the sources I've seen, copyright infringement, has become their big concern in the cybercrime arena.

You can also look at their efforst at :
www.cybercrime.gov

So, if the FBI says that "protecting intellectual property rights" has become their number three priority, I tend to take their word for it.