washington post.com

July 17, 2003
Jailing the Pirates

By Cynthia L. Webb washingtonpost.com Staff Writer

"Mom, Dad, the cops are here. They say I have to go
downtown to answer some questions about some Eminem
songs I downloaded from the Internet."

Could this conversation be heading to a living room near
you? Probably not, but if a bill unveiled in Congress
yesterday actually gets enacted, anyone who engages in
music or movie piracy could technically be in for some
jail time.

Today's Los Angeles Times reports that the proposal,
"introduced by senior Democrats on the House Judiciary
Committee[,] would make it easier for federal
prosecutors to bring felony charges against people who
offer at least one song, movie or other digital file on
Kazaa or other public computer networks. The proposal by
Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Howard L. Berman
(D-North Hollywood), which is co-sponsored by four other
Democrats, also would make it a crime to record movies
as they're being displayed in a theater or to register a
Web site under a false name." (The Los Angeles Times:
House Bill Aims To Up Stakes On Piracy)

Reuters noted that the proposed legislation is "the
strongest attempt yet to deter the widespread online
song copying that recording companies say has led to a
decline in CD sales." If enacted, anyone convicted of
music piracy could technically face prison time for
trading one song without permission, The Los Angeles
Times explained. Currently, distributing 10 illegal
copies of work "with a retail value of more than $2,500
is a felony."

Wired notes that the bill -- the Author, Consumer and
Computer Owner Protection and Security Act of 2003 --
"'clarifies' that uploading a single file of copyright
content qualifies as a felony." The legislation also
"would allocate more money to the justice department to
investigate copyright crimes: up to $15 million a year,
compared with the current budget of $10 million. The
bill would also enable information sharing between
countries to help in copyright enforcement abroad. ...
Penalties ... include up to five years in prison and up
to a $250,000 fine. In addition, filming a movie in a
theater without authorization would immediately qualify
as a federal offense."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has been a
critic of the heavy-handed tactics of the Recording
Industry Association of America and its allies, told the
Los Angeles Times that the Conyers-Berman proposal is
"an attempt to criminalize the use of computer
networks."

RIAA Dragnet Continues

The RIAA last month signaled that it is readying
lawsuits against hundreds of file-swappers, and it looks
like they weren't kidding, as the group is busy sending
subpoenas to ISPs to get information about users
suspected of illegally trading files. "Internet service
provider Earthlink said it had received three subpoenas
since the RIAA pledged to track file-swapping sites such
as Kazaa for heavy users," BBC News said. "Earthlink
spokesman David Blumenthal said the company would go
along with the order to identify individuals. But he
said: 'We disagree with the method that is being used
here and while we support the right of them to enforce
copyrights, we think this is the wrong method for doing
so,'" the article said. The New York Post reported that
Verizon Communications has been asked to supply 150
names of suspected pirates. "The phone company is in the
process of complying with the subpoenas -- just some of
those sent out by the [RIAA] in the last weeks," the
paper said.

AOL Exec to Run RIAA?

The head spokesman for America Online is the main
candidate for the executive director position at the
RIAA, The New York Post reported today, citing unnamed
sources. The paper said that John Buckley "was seen
schmoozing last month at the going-away party for Hilary
Rosen, who announced in January that she would step down
as the RIAA's chief." An announcement could be made in
the coming weeks, the paper said. However, the article
did not note if Buckley is confirming or denying the
report.

Meanwhile, in other AOL news, 50 workers were cut from
its Netscape Communications unit as part of a
rejiggering of its Mozilla open-source browser group,
CNET's News.com reported yesterday. "The move affects
fewer than 10 percent of Netscape employees, according
to an AOL representative, who added that the company
plans to continue to support current versions of the
Netscape browser and the Netscape Web portal."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4876-2003Jul17.html



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