Peer To Peer Law To Be

[Jack Rodgers]

Copied from <http://www.macintouch.com/>, a site with daily tips and 
stuff for Mac users.

Peer-to-peer users who swap copyrighted files could be in danger of 
becoming federal felons, under a new proposal backed by Democrats in 
the U.S. House of Representatives.
   Their legislation, introduced Wednesday, would punish an Internet 
user who shares even a single file without permission from a copyright 
holder with prison terms of up to five years and fines of up to 
$250,000.
   Written by Michigan's John Conyers, the senior Democrat on the House 
judiciary committee, the Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner 
Protection and Security Act (ACCOPS) represents Congress' boldest 
attempt yet to shutter peer-to-peer networks, which the major record 
labels and movie studios view as a serious threat.
   Currently, under a little-known 1997 law called the No Electronic 
Theft Act, many P2P users are technically already violating criminal 
laws. But if the ACCOPS bill were to succeed, prosecutors would not 
have to prove that a copyrighted file was repeatedly downloaded. 
Conyers' proposal would require them to prove only that the file was 
publicly accessible.

Further info in a url in todays page, 
<http://news.com.com/2100-1028-1026715.html?tag=macintouch>

Now, if Congress would also protect the public and not just their large 
campaign contributers, a similar law against spammers would be 
desirable.

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Historically the ideas that tend to make everyone mad are the ideas 
that become socially accepted in a decade or so.

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