Today, bill HR 2517 which would, among other things, allow the FBI to prosecute p2p file sharers, again rears its head.

Because today is the day Lamar Smith, backed by John Conyers and Hollywood Howard Berman, plan to present changes to their Copyright Enforcement Bill as a markup statement to the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.

As it stands, HR 2517 is designed to, "To enhance criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, educate the public about the application of copyright law to the Internet, and clarify the authority to seize unauthorized copyrighted works."

Smith & Co now also want to make it a federal crime to record movies during a cinema performance; and, "create a new provision requiring any person who offers 'enabling' software for download over the Internet to provide notice to users about the risks and get consent before allowing the user to download it'."

And, although the 1997 NET (No Electronic Theft) Act, "closed a loophole that required a showing of attempted financial gain as a prerequisite to bringing criminal charges against an infringer," unfortunately, they say, it's "difficult" for various reasons to satisfy the statute's "felony threshold" and the Department of Justice has, "encountered many obstacles to prosecuting cases under the NET Act". So, "the Subcommittee intends to work with DOJ, affected federal agencies, copyright owners, and technology and user groups in an effort to find an appropriate solution".

See what Hollywood wants and write it up, in other words. Business as usual.

But HR 2517 is about more than blocking spyware and making it a felony to record movies in theatres. It would also put the FBI in charge of 'educating' and prosecuting copyright violations - including file sharing.

Not that this should surprise anyone. Hollywood has suborned police forces around the world which now routinely and regularly act for, and on behalf of, its various trade groups such as the RIAA and MPAA, while taxpayers foot the bill.

And if HR 2517 is sneaked through, under Section 3, Deterrence and Coordination, the director of the FBI will develop a program to, "deter members of the public from committing acts of copyright infringement" by:

"(A) offering on the Internet copies of copyrighted works, or
"(B) making copies of copyrighted works from the Internet, without the authorization of the copyright owners; and,
"(2) facilitate the sharing among law enforcement agencies, Internet service providers, and copyright owners of information concerning activities described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1)."

But the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) is among the many individuals and institutions which don't like HR 2517 in its present form, as is the newly formed commercial file sharing trade group P2PUnited.

On its web page, P2PUnited says it would support the bill with mark-ups of its own, namely:

Sec 2 - Clarify and correct the Findings to make clear that: a) the risk to a peer-to-peer user of exposing his or her personal data, or the entire contents of a hard drive, to others users inadvertently is very small; and b) peer-to-peer users run little risk that file-sharing software providers will or can 'take over portions of users' computers.'

Sec 3 - Revise the text to: a) reflect current copyright law under which 'the making of copyrighted works from the Internet' without the 'authorization of a the copyright owners' is not invariably illegal, as the text presumes; and b) clarify that criminal prosecution may result only if the user's actions constitute actual infringement of copyright law, rather than simple use without an owner’s permission (such as Fair Use).

Sec 5 - Limit the proposed educational role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to coordinating with the Departments of Education and Commerce as to the scope of applicable copyright laws, but relieve the Bureau of the proposed burden on its budget and operations by acting well outside its present expertise to educate the general public.

Sec 7 - Assure, whenever the seal of the FBI is used in connection with copyrighted material and/or statements about its legal status, that the average viewer of such a notice will not be likely to assume incorrectly that lawful conduct under present copyright law could subject him or her to prosecution or penalty.

And the CDT believes specific provisions raise cause for concern, namely:

Section 3.2, which directs the FBI to "facilitate the sharing [of information] among law enforcement agencies, Internet service providers and copyright holders," raises substantial privacy issues for end users. The section as written is exceptionally vague, and it raises questions about appropriate sharing of information, gathered for governmental enforcement purposes, broadly with the private sector. At a time when substantial privacy concerns have been raised regarding the collection of information for national security and anti-terrorism purposes, especial care should be taken to avoid further weakening safeguards for end-user privacy.

There has been discussion of amending H.R. 2517 by combining it with certain sections of H.R. 2752 ("Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security Act of 2003"), and we remain concerned about some sections of that bill. In particular, Section 302, mandating notice and consent for "enabling software" is overly broad. As written, this section appears to include Windows XP, Mac OS X, Internet Explorer, and a huge array of other network applications in the category of "enabling software."

In addition, Section 303 of H.R. 2752, which would make provision of false contact information for domain name registration a federal crime, and Section 305, which makes provision of false information evidence of willful infringement for the purposes of copyright, raise significant privacy concerns. At a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about identity theft and privacy, it is unfair to make it a felony to provide incomplete personal information in a public database that has no privacy protections. CDT believes that the best way to achieve accuracy in the domain name registration database is to guarantee registrants privacy and security for their information.

In the meanwhile, can it be no more than an amazing coincidence that Smith & Co are moving their bill on the same day as the California recall election?

Only The Shadow knows.

Jon Newton

So would this beast make it illegal to use a P2P app for legal purposes?

Perhaps Joseph McCarthy had Hollywood pegged correctly in assuming many of the people there were Communist. This bill sounds like it seriously belongs in the old Communist countries not here in the "land of the free"...

I have a question: Will this make file-sharing illegal, or just copyrighted works with these services? These big artists who are able to take the risk should share all their stuff and see if anything happens to them.

Oops, didn't see the first post, as I loaded the page that long ago.

I think that the FBI has better things to do than to worry about P2P filesharing. Isn't there still a war on terrorism going on?

More to the point, this Bill HR 2517 is clearly a step in the wrong direction. Pentalties for copyright infringement (at least as far as file sharing is concerned) are already quite draconian.

We (and that includes those on THIS WEB SITE) should be doing everything we can to highlight the unfairness of existing copyright laws (both the extraordinary long life of copyright and the innane $150,000 max penalty per shared copyrighted MP3). I can tell you from my experience that most folks do not realize how much our existing copyright laws deviate from their original intent. I do everything I can to educate folks on this issue. When people realize how unjust existing copyright laws are, they will be much more sympathetic to the P2P community.

This bill is nothing but PURE FASCISM!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn Lamar Smith, John Conyers, and Howard Berman to HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laws are for the people not special interest groups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or the U.S. is NOT the Land of the Free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bufo I think that they may be trying to extend the war against terror to P2P file sharers. everyone knows they are in leauge with the hateful extremests Osama and Mula Omar. Copying files on the internet is a catastophy equaling the toppling of the world trade centers. the FBI can't ignor such an awful threat of 12 and 13 years olds and grandparents who undemine our entire society. seig heil!!!

yeah Bufo --- you have to remember that little things such as the WTCs, which destroyed our economy, an economy which is STILL in hell, is nothing when compared to the Mental ANGUISH these record producers have to deal with. Take a look at poor Hilary Rosen. She actually had to GIVE UP her position as RIAA leader when it came to her attention that she was one of the most hated women in the entire United States of America. Doesn't say much about her, does it? It is the tradgedies like this that warrant FBI intervention. the FBI is here for the sake of the poor innocent multi-billion dollor corporation's CEOs, not you and I.

Well, compmore, perhaps it may be time for us to download the Horst Wessel Lied (Raise High The Banner - the Nazi Party
Anthem). I'll bet the RIAA wouldn't sue anyone for downloading that song (nobody would dare admit that they own the copyright to that one).

bufo I think you are correct with your assesment. I just couldn't resiste the oprotunity to throw in a bit of sarcasam to their actions. I did download a film of one of Hitlers Neurmburg rally's to use in a satire. anyone want to sue me for that?

"And, although the 1997 NET (No Electronic Theft) Act, "closed a loophole that required a showing of attempted financial gain as a prerequisite to bringing criminal charges against an infringer," unfortunately, they say, it's "difficult" for various reasons to satisfy the statute's "felony threshold" and the Department of Justice has, "encountered many obstacles to prosecuting cases under the NET Act".

Yeah, that annoying little nuisance whereby we actually had to have some kind of evidence in order to throw somebody away. You know, maybe having strict requirements to justify felony charges is a GOOD idea. But of course, that makes a police state that much harder to bring about, and what's the fun in that? I'm not a huge fan of Ayn Rand but I think this quote is appropriate (provided it's even a quote of hers..enlighten me if I got the source wrong): "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

Well I'm gonna go clean up my back yard and put down some concrete and fencing. We can start the first P2P concentration camp here. I'll put up some bull horns and play britney spears all day. During intermentent breaks I will have salutations to our nobal leaders. Those who refuse to comply will be shot. And those who do will be allotted the finest in sewage water and gruel to keep them sick, but alive..

I know Code would scream about this bill since it improperly uses the word "Piracy" (as defined in Title 18,
Chapter 81, Sect. 1652) in the title.

Folks, we NEED to oppose this piece of legislative feces as stongly as possible.
PLEASE WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AT CONGRESS.ORG AND TELL THEM TO OPPOSE THIS BILL!.

Emailing your rep, and other reps is FREE at congress.org, and this is the easiest thing to do. SO WHAT if your congressperson doesn't answer you. At least they got the message.

NOW, IS THIS BOARD ALL TALK?
If not, write your congressperson. If we are NOT all talk, then the letters to the leaders section by the end of the day should be FULL of letters of opposition.
If we are just talk, and not action, then there will be three letters (And I KNOW one of THEM will be codewarrior, if not all three).

And, this applies to those just lurking the board, not just members.

PLEASE DO THIS, OK?
LET'S SHOW THEM WE CAN MOBILIZE WHEN THREATENED.
-bulkeraser

For those who would like a sample letter to write to oppose HR 2517, Code has a sample at his site at:
http://codewarrior.50mb.org/hr2517.htm

here is the punch line of the bill.....

----------------------------------------

Given: There are "frugal" estimates of 2,000,000 users on any P2P network at anytime, that are "easily" subpoenaed.

Given: A crime committed under the jurisdiction of the FBI constitues a felony.

Given: A felon cannot vote in the US.

Find: How many voters in America will lose the ability to change who makes law in the US?

Find: What effect will that have on the other 40% of America?/ the World?

While I reemphasize the concern of the very esteemed opinion of bulkeraser,

I also STRONGLY recommend, that you urge your NEIGHBOR to pay close attention to the effects of HR2517.

ALSO, make a careful notation of the congressmen who drafted, cosponsored, and vote for this bill.

I thank my colleague for his leadership in this issue, and wish to add my voice of support, and second his thoughts. We DO need to spread the word, and need to take note of those mired in the filth which they call HR 2517.
-bulkeraser

I screamed, fellas.......
Lets let em know!

Crash the servers from all the email, theres millions of us, remember!

~time flies~

I've got to go do something!

Hermit, I finally see what the RIAA is trying to do!

They're trying to get all p2p users branded felons so we can't vote against them!!

If that's not diabolically low I don't know what is. That is beyond inhumane. It should be illegal. But we all agree on that already, don't we?

Swarm your congresspeople with letters, kill the bill!

Zeon
"Live Free or Die!!"

swarm your neighbors!

Supposing that you feel that antagonistic, swarm the editors of the newspapers!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "We are loosing our freedoms a little bit each day." You would be suprised at the number of people that don't even know this is going on. Special intrests are gaining controle because thats all they have to do the average citizen is loosing out because of ignorance to the political process and that is exactly what the RIAAis counting on.

The bill is sponsored by Lamar Smith R-TX, and has 23 cosponsors 16 GOP and 7 DEM, all of whom represent a district with a recording industry presence (ie near Hollywood, Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, New York etc.). Chances are you will not beable to persuade any of these people to change their vote. Target your rep, and the reps of districts with a significant High Tech industry presence, as this sort of thing is likely to affect the growth of the Hardware and Software industries. Also try to get on talk radio to talk about this issue, write open letters to the editors of your local newspaper, hand out flyers at bus stops. Get the word out, or in short order the internet's potential to be a great communications medium is going to be wiped out and it will provide content on par with broadcast television.

Lamar has no available email either-but Kay Hutchinson does...


~time flies~

they just might as well build more jails because the way they figure it we're all guilty, makes me more than ever to boycott the RIAA I am so sick of all the bull they put out and it's not just about music it's everything.

i asked earlier if there would be about three letters about this in Letters to the Leader...I know there was one earlier from Austin Texas, and I just looked. There were letters from Hudson WI,
and Harrisburg PA. So, that's basically three letter writers. That's a poor show for so many folks here.

Congressman Lamar Smith | 2231 Rayburn House Office Building | Washington, D.C. 20515-4321 | (202) 225-4236
email-http://lamarsmith.house.gov/contact.asp

Congressperson Kay Bailey "Irish Cream" Hutchison
http://hutchison.senate.gov/e-mail.htm
Washington Office:
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4304
Phone: (202) 224-5922
Fax: (202) 224-0776

Main District Office:
10440 N. Central Expressway, #1160
Dallas, TX 75231
Phone: (214) 361-3500
Fax: (214) 361-3502

Sorry for third post in a row..but since it costs nothing to email congress senators and reps at congress.org, WHY HASN'T EVERYONE DONE THAT?
I'm just a bit bugged that people post and post and don't just write a letter.
BTW, I did earlier.

Wow, this means I could shoplift CDs and get less jail time than downloading 3 songs. 3 strikes and I am out, up to the big house for downloading 3 songs.

I also find it interesting that congressman Conyers from Michigan sponsors a bill for hollywood when good high paying union jobs in his district are moving to China. He is doing nothing about this. I wonder who is paying his bill.

Oh, Motown moved to Hollywood years ago.

Where is Senator Coleman on this? Anybody know?

Sorry I have to say this.. but what do you expect out of a mostly Republican in your bedroom/big company run government????????? If ya voted for them then who's fault is it?? And if any Republican official that is for changes can't be a full right Republican! Sorry but this world is really getting my feathers ruffled! I wish I could go back to darn horse and buggy and not rely on big businesses at all for anything! UGH!

Yea, I am working on my coal fired computer right now.





Show Bush the door in 2004!!!

Oh, Conyers is a Democrat.






Show Bush the door in 2004!!!

Heil America, the only country in which government officials put a higher priority on prosecuting 12 year olds rather than finding Osama Bin Laden. I bet if Osama was downloading music he would be caught within a week!

I just sent my rep a nice little letter. I'll be sending it to my "senators" soon. Sorry, but i took some quotes from this...they seemed like really good points.

and yes, show Bush the door and let's hope is slams him in the ass on the way out!!

Bulk, I sent 5 emails today, utilizing congress.org.
More is happening than you are seeing.
But, Im willing to bet still more could be
happening.
As to the silly republican bashing-Might I remind that the DMCA was signed into law under Clintons watch-the same Clinton that had 8 years to deal with Osama and failed to do so.
This is really not the place to be partisan, as there are many republicans who post here. Sounds like ignorance and sour grapes to me.
BTW-looks like the dems lost california too, wonder what they are doing wrong that nobody votes for them?

~time flies~

hmmm seems to me neither has Bush gotten Osama Bin Laden nor found WMD's either and spent all the surplus this country has on it which has caused the states to not have enough money to survive, and yeah they put another Actor in office in California who is Republican doh.. let me think.. ummm MPAA maybe?

Bush hasnt had 8 years, nor would be an undisputable WMD program, had clinton done his part.
As to the budget surplus, that was a gift from the republican congress, not clinton.
Davis was reelected and screwed california into the dirt.
lets get real here-you been watching the west wing to much.

~time flies~

Arnold is a moron, simply put. I can't believe we put a moron who hasn't even elaborated upon the issues of how he plans on fixing California's Crisis! It just goes to show you that money and exposure wins over honesty and intelligence. It also goes to show how it is extremely unfortunate that the majority of Americans are ignorant morons who vote for people like Arnold just because he's famous.... If that's the case I might as well vote for Britney Spears as President and Madonna as Vice in our next election..

PS zeitgheist, all you have to do is look at the statistics and observe Bush's policies to know that he is running this country into the ground. He's also a liar and Republicans need better things to do than impeaching a president just because he got a BJ in the oval office. I'm not going to even argue this point anymore because i could write a novel in full detail about all of Bush's flaws which are blatently sickening. Maybe i could be a Republican someday if i become rich and a moron. I'd love huge tax cuts too if I was a millionaire. It's too bad that Republicans care more about themselves rather than the good of their fellow Americans. Bush is a hippocrit by calling anti-war protesters unpatriotic when in reality he's a traitor to the American people... PS, get off of blaming Clinton for Bush's crappy policies.. thanks

Justin, Sorry my bad and sorry to everyone else on getting so far off the subject but it's the people in office that make the decisions on what happens and what does not..
zeitgheist I could get really detailed and argue more intensly on the issues you have gotten into but I don't want to go there on here. I can say however that you don't watch the news and I'm not talking about just the news here in the US, but overseas also. I will say one thing and then I'm done.. Clinton wanted to go after Bin Ladin and Saddam but the Republican congress would not let him when he wanted to try. Clinton also didn't want the internet regulated because he was smart enough to know that we aren't the only country on this earth! Done I won't be replying to anymore on the subject.

yawn.

lets get on topic. And How did you know i dont read/watch news? Your crystal ball? Assumptions are a silly game, and I would be happy do debate you into the ground on the proper forum.

spelling correction-justin, its hypocrite.

YAWN. amuse me.

~time flies~

One more point, Bush isn't all to blame for our country's turmoil obviously. The problem lies within our Republican Congress who are nothing more than dittoheads who will agree with almost any stupid proposal Bush comes up with. Bush is Rush Limbaugh, and the Congress are his dittohead fans with little intelligence and personalities that scream greed with little concern for the middle class and lower class Americans... Blaming bush is like blaming Hitler for Germany's attrocities, I guess every dictator has his minions.. Heil Bush!!! Hitler of the 21st century!

Once again a Republican changing the subject.. I think my point was clear even though i spelled one word wrong. Sorry i didn't get out my dictionary to write my comments, and as far as you debating me into the ground, i highly doubt it because you can't even grasp the true issues here when you nit pick about my spelling. The only thing amusing me here is your failure to understand that statistics do not lie, unlike your savior. Maybe you do read the news, but obviously you lack understanding of it. I'm done here because this isn't a political forum but you can sit there and also disillusion yourself by thinking you know what you are talking about..

hopefully i spelled everything right or else all of my political views may have no merit..

save yourself some face and sign of, twit.
when you grow up, and become worth my time, ill toy some more with you.

as to a change of subject, what the HELL does bush have to do with the RIAA anyway.

Further you are a judgemental mouthy prick, who proves his idiocy everytime you open that gateway to hell you call a mouth.

buh bye whiner.

~time flies~

It's nice to see that I offended you and your reply addressed none of my points at all. I'm also glad that you showed your true character by calling me names. I guess telling it like it is is called "mouthing off" to a Republican like yourself. The truth hits you hard doesn't it? You are truely and uneducated moron. You should've saved face before you wrote that last post in which you basically admitted to the whole world that your are a complete idiot who has to call people names in order to defend your points (haha, laughable because you made no points). Thanks for the laugh

I have a question.. isn't Bush part of this spying bull into our privacy and our rights as citizens? Which includes the FBI, CIA, NSA and yes let's include RIAA along with that when they are snooping around and getting peoples PRIVATE INFORMATION by their subpoenas!

Can't we all just get along? HR 2517 has more republican backers than democratic. Some of the RIAA's biggest supporters are democrats like Boxer and Feinstein. Grey Davis gave them their own investigatory group. Bush has taken a lot of media money and is backing all kinds of anti-privacy legislation. Thanks to all of them, we have the patriot act, spyware in the banks, and attempts to spy on what one reads in libraries not to mention criminalizing a huge segment of the population. Vote for the person, not the party!

Well, I may be too late, but hopefully I did my part. Here's the letter I sent to my congressman... it's kinda long, so bear with me.

I hope this email is finding its way to the appropriate individuals having the power to address the issues of my concerns and make something positive happen for the good of the people.

There are many issues I'd love to discuss, but for the sake of brevity, I will keep the discussion to the items listed on the subject line. Through various channels, I've learned of HR-2517 and am completely opposed to what it stands for. If my information is correct, it is being voted on tomorrow, and I'm hoping this reaches you in time to impact your vote. I also hope HR-2517 gets the attention it deserves and is VOTED DOWN as it should be.

The RIAA and other similar associations have entirely too much power already and to assign the FBI as their henchmen to prosecute, arrest, and imprison average Americans for file-sharing is absolutely preposterous. Last I checked, we're still fighting a war on terrorism and seems like the FBI would have far better and more important things to do than chase down 13 year olds and the elderly at the RIAA's command. I'm sure their resources would be much more effectively utilized preventing another tragedy, such as the horrific events that befell our great nation on September 11th.

As a taxpayer I have no desire to further pad the pockets of these corrupt, unscrupulous CEO's and Executives that have gotten filthy, stinking rich, while many of the musicians they claim to "serve and protect" get little or nothing at all. I believe it's a case of advancing technology and those trying to hold it back to make up for their ignorance and lack of control over it.

The technology in question is not that new... it's only new to those who have chosen to turn their heads rather than embrace it. Now, in a desperate attempt to recapture losses brought about by their own ignorance, they're lashing out at average people (THEIR CUSTOMERS) who can't afford the exorbitant fines the RIAA is attempting to collect from them. Equally concerning, in the wake of all the other unjust activities of the RIAA (and others), and while judgment is still basically in their favor, is their push for the government to grant them additional powers, which in turn will ultimately reduce the freedoms and liberties we enjoy as Americans. This is alarming and disturbing in and of itself.

HR-2517 will only further complicate a situation already way out of control. It is not the answer. I am asking you as your constituent, a concerned taxpayer, but most importantly, as a fellow American... please vote "NO" on HR-2517. I also implore you to further educate yourself and others on the issue of file-sharing and attempt to understand the depth and breadth of the subject. The technology has many potential benefits for all -- many that haven't even been realized yet -- and to diminish or eradicate this amazing technology would be an act of ignorance.

File-sharers are not hardened criminals and do not deserve to be treated as such. They're only acting on what has been instilled in them as the American way... they're just looking for the best deal. If record companies wouldn't be so greedy and bring the price of Cd's and other media down to a reasonable level, I think they would find themselves with more customers and less subpoena targets!

I sincerely thank you for your time and once again, please vote "NO" to HR-2517.

SXsiv1, Bravo! Great letter!

our own tax dollars are being used to prosecute us? these people (RIAA and MPAA) are using the same elected officials by us, the people of the united states of america, to make a bill to criminalize all americans that use a computer to basically "tape" in digital form music to listen to at their own leisure. i just can't believe that this government is working with the RIAA and MPAA to do such a disastrous thing. these companies were made with all our hard earned money, money that was some poor person's last dollar was spent to buy a CD because they liked only one song on it, and that same hard earned money of the consumer is being used against him/her to turn them into a criminal. these acts of injustices should be stopped all costs, because these are the makings of a police state that will be very sad for us all. let's just all hope and pray that these things don't happen. the RIAA and MPAA should be put in jail themselves for the dreadful things they did just in a months time with this DMCA policy. we have to keep up the fight otherwise we will all be living in the dark ages again.

XSsiv1 and zeitgheist, thanks.
Sorry if I was a bit angry in the post, but it's just that I see all the posts, and when I look at the letters to leaders, so few are on target with regard to OUR issues. But, I appreciate what you did in writing, and wish everyone would take the time to do that.
-bulkeraser