Legislation is coming. It had an ominous, threatening tone to it. Yes, indeed legislation is coming. It has been coming, and coming, and coming. Lamar Smith, Howard Berman, Orrin Hatch, Diane Feinstein, Patrick Leahy, Pitts, and on and on, have been throwing up proposed bills for some time. The PDEA, the Pirate Act, ACCOPS, and other proposed legislation has been pushed forward as far as they could. File sharers are the target, and control of P2P is the goal.

It has been said that a defender has to win 100 percent of the time, the attacker only has to be successful once.

It is getting to a critical point in this country. As I listened to the hearing today, I heard something that was being said between the lines, a subliminal message. That message was that P2P users are probably criminal, that P2P networks are the largest repositories of child porn, copyright infringement, and that criminal investigations are needed. I kept hearing congress people asking if identification of individual sharers could be identified.

Child porn issues got mixed in with copyright infringement, and one of the congress people kept trying to get someone to say that porn being offered on P2P was "harming or hurting" kids that may "accidentally" be exposed. The notion of it "harming" children, was being suggested as the question was put forward. It was put forward in what in a court setting, would be called a "leading question" manner, meaning the answer to the question was suggested in the question itself.

We saw what a large effect that Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" had on broadcast media. Howard Stern was fired from Clear Channel, and even C-Span started talking about the possibility of time delaying their telephone call in segments (i.e. a time delay between a caller speaking, and broadcasting of their comments).

Using kiddie porn as their gambit to get surveillance of P2P networks underway was both shameful, and brilliant, because legislators will , like bobblehead dolls, rubberstamp almost anything that says it is for protecting kids from porn or from being stalked by pedophiles.

But, true to form, even though the hearing was to be just about porn, one of the congress people brought up the problems the RIAA has with stopping "copyright infringement".

I saw something else I have seen in these meetings, and that is the implied threat aimed at P2P network people about passing legislation. It seems like, every time one of these hearings is held, it becomes an ambush of whoever is there representing P2P networks, and , by default, the person representing the interests of file sharers. There is almost a back room, bare knuckled, double team interrogation approach. All that is left to complete the image is for the committee to have stormtrooper types with black uniforms and death's head silver skulls and twin lightning bolts of the SS, pinned neatly to their caps, flanking the congress people and guarding the doors.

We honestly need to mobilize and organize. I wish we could organize a large front of groups who have interests in common, including but not limited to :
Stopriaalawsuits.com
downhillbattle.org
p2punited.org
webcastersaliiance.org
EFF
ACLU
kazaa
e-donkey
morpheus

and others.

I don't have the answer to all this, or even the best way to go about it.
I could offer my usual suggestion about writing your congressperson and representatives, but, honestly, I don't know how much good it does (it couldn't hurt though).

Surveillance, criminalization, and prosecutions are coming.

To do nothing is to surely lose.

Scary isn't it? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I see a future where ISP's are monitored for any illicit activity and users are not allowed to do anything without being spied upon. Encryption will become illegal. Anything that they cannot peer into of yours will mean instant punishment and a criminal record.

Big brother is here and there's not much any individual can do about it as the masses are brain washed by the media and governments of the world.

We are the Borg. Resistance is futile.

I keep thinking this has got to be taken to the streets, protest marches, demonstrations, newspaper ads!, etc. But they need to be organized city to city.

What happened to having a boycott representative in at least every state? that seemed to be heading in the right direction.

The enemy does these things in secret. They need to have their agendas brought into the light. People have got to be told what they are about to lose here.

We've got nothing left to lose as far as I'm concerned!

KEEP FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a few ideas about what needs to happen to win this war. It will require the people you list above, the CEA and some tech industry support.

It seems far fetched to bring all these groups together but, given some careful planning, I think it can be done. There is too much common ground for them not to lend a hand.

Do you mind if I write another article?

Captain...please do!

code: that image guy is going to have a concusssion and bloody head; pleze make it stop!

I fully support the views and opinions of the posters above me, however, we need to keeps things in a little perspective.

It is an election year, and with it brings promises, proposed bills, actions and amendments not usually seen in the time between the 2, 4 and 6 year election cycles we've established in this country (do we really need this many different election cycles??? sheesh!).

I agree we can not give up one inch to these bought and paid for politicians, but we also need to realize that they are doing exactly what they need to do during an election year to get re-elected. Appease their campaign contributers and make it look like it is for their constituents. The reason they're doing it now is due to the extremely short memory and attention span of the voting public...unless you do it close to election time, nobody remembers/cares!!!

These proposed bills are generally too extreme to get past a floor vote without major revisions gutting them of the most serious provisions, or won't make it at all. They are primarily there to show the lobbiers that they're getting a return on their investment.

So I hope everyone take a deep breath, and calmly sends a letter to their congress critter explaining how they'll lose their job if they vote for this garbage. Don't lose too much sleep over it, but keep a watchful eye just in case.

Just remember, stay calm. =)

p.s. I'm doing what I can to get rid of the problem out here in California.

So, they want to stop kids from getting porn, but they let Brittney spears prance around hald naked on TV singing lyrics that a whore uses on the street, and she is doing this in front of millions of kids daily.

I dont think P2P is fully responsible for the porn problem. The RIAA has to look at the message thier artists are spreading.

Captain, please write MANY articles. We need ya!

I second that, independentm...
You make great points, Capt.

lol...ilikethissite....that's an actual photograph of me as I read the news...
(the head knocking guy)...it's me in silhouette ;0)

"The RIAA has to look at the message thier artists are spreading."

I'm going to go out on a limb and say they know exactly what message their artists are sending, they just don't give a shit.

i agree ringmaster316ms!

I want to correct you code, this is not a struggle for control of P2P networks.

As was mentioned earlier, any search engine will cough up as much porn as you may or may not want to see.

This hearing is infact pushing for nothing less that complete government oversight over all electronic communication. And with the new video capture cell phones, I have no doubts that it will include all wireless communications as well.

I also want to disagree with both ringmaster316ms and code here:

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say they know exactly what message their artists are sending, they just don't give a shit."

They are infact carefully crafted national exhibitions, (no pun intended), that give the grey people ammunition to charge that next hill with.

"This hearing is infact pushing for nothing less that complete government oversight over all electronic communication."
Yes, d'accord! Hermit, you have gotten to the crux of it all. It's not overreacting. It is about control.

Excuse me, Hermit. GOVERNMENT control.

The only question I have, is how do we enforce the "Bill Of Rights" as a public on the government.

To Code:
Have you called the offending spokes persons at this hearing, and everyone that heard thier statement?

Unfortunately, I missed the hearing, but if you would be so kind and offer me a detailed line item of the offending statements, and the speaker, and everyone on the hearing committee, I will be glad to call them, and air my grievances personally with thier staff.

Thank you in advance.

theHermit , the hearing is available online at
(clip1750
www.cspan.prg
LATEST VIDEO >>
U.S. House Debate on Iraqi Prisoner Resolution (05/06/2004)
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on Iraq (05/06/2004)
Gerard Latortue, Haitian Interim Prime Minister (05/06/2004)
this one------House Hearing on Online Pornography (05/06/2004)

"Have you called the offending spokes persons at this hearing, and everyone that heard thier statement?"

I have not called them, they don't care what I say.

Janice Schakowsky (D) Illinois was particularly anti-P2P and needs to be defeated in her re-election effort.

Thank you, very much for the link. I eagerly anticipate the fun I will have with this.

And they ignore me too, but I will move one more grain of sand. I hope you will adhere to the principles, and move sand with me.

Lay off the zoloft, it is habit forming.

Code, I answered you in the other thread. I don't think Jan Schakowsky came across as anti peer-to-peer.

I listened to this hearing, replaying many parts of it, with note pad in hand.

I think the number of panelist was too short, and that many important opinions were not heard.

But I also heard this:

The important matter of protecting children from the world IS a problem for parents, just as it was 1500 years ago, and not a congressional duty, certainly not something the FBI should be actively involved in. (Accessible, perhaps. If parents, and other concerned citizens were more enabled by P2P services to report cases of child pornography to law enforcement, It could help prevent the harm to children.)

I would like to add that the honorable representative from Nebraska has the same agenda as myself. Sit down with your kids at the computer, and teach them the right way to do things.

I have similar opinions about television.
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In the exact same breath, I do not believe that the government should seek further jurisdiction over the internet, and certainly not over this. And certainly not until they are at least able to carry the responsibility of clearly defining/separating what is art and what is pornographic.

What children receive from the internet, is still, and always has been a parental role. The parent is responsible for the information that their child has access to, not some government body. And outside of the possibilities of offering classes to parents, televising information about the dangers of the internet, sending literature/e-mail to parents and informing them of these services, and linking parents to the dangers of the internet to children from P2P sites, and recommending other links for parents from P2P sites, (including this hearing), I will oppose any extra governmental control of the internet.
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Also In the same breath, I see this hearing as a platform, tailored by the RIAA, FCC, and the FBI as nothing less than a starting point for complete government oversight over all electronic communication. Congress is using this platform to apply more draconian laws over the internet, aimed at undermining personal privacy, incarcerating more people, and disenfranchising the entire population of a few more rights that should still exist in "The Bill Of Rights", but no longer exist.
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That is what I'm going to tell the staffers that I talk to.

typo:

"and linking parents to the dangers of the internet to children from P2P sites"

should read:

"and linking parents to information that protects their children from the dangers of the internet and P2P sites"

another typo:

"Congress is using this platform to apply more draconian laws over the internet, aimed at undermining personal privacy, incarcerating more people, and disenfranchising the entire population of a few more rights that should still exist in "The Bill Of Rights", but no longer exist."

should read:
"Congress is BEING USED BY this platform to apply more draconian laws over the internet, aimed at undermining personal privacy, incarcerating more people, and disenfranchising the entire population of a few more rights that should still exist in "The Bill Of Rights", but no longer exist.