NewCardDude
06-21-2004, 01:54 PM
21/06/2004
A draft bill due to be debated in the Senate this week would make anyone who “intentionally induces any violation” of US copyright law liable for that violation, presenting a threat to anyone who promotes a peer-to-peer network such as Kazaa.
The US entertainment industry, led by the Recording Industry Association of America, has been trying for years to counter the phenomenon of file-sharing, where users distribute and download copyrighted music over P2P services.
Legal actions against the networks, file-swappers, the creators of software that circumvents security features, and the purchasers of that software have all been filed, with varying degrees of success.
But the industry has also been lobbying hard for the introduction of laws that will more fully protect it from copyright abuses. The proposed Induce Act (otherwise known as the Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act) is the latest of these.
Likely to be introduced to the Senate this week by Senator Orrin Hatch, the bill makes it an offence to intentionally induce any violation of the existing US Copyright Act. It defines “intentionally induces” as “intentionally aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures”, and infringers face fines or even a prison sentence.
The proposals have not yet been officially published, but have already been criticised by consumer groups and civil liberties organisations for being so broad as to attack any service or device that has the potential to be used for copyright infringement.
Jeff Joseph, vice president for communications at the Consumer Electronics Association, told CNET News.com: “It's designed to have this fuzzy feel around protecting children from pornography, but it's pretty clearly a backdoor way to eliminate and make illegal peer-to-peer services. Our concern is that you're attacking the technology."
The problem with legislating against decentralised P2P services is that shutting down the network will be near impossible. You can act against individuals who use the services; you can act against individuals or companies that make the networking software available to others; but unless you stop or sufficiently deter all these parties, you can't shut down the pure-P2P network itself.
masons
A draft bill due to be debated in the Senate this week would make anyone who “intentionally induces any violation” of US copyright law liable for that violation, presenting a threat to anyone who promotes a peer-to-peer network such as Kazaa.
The US entertainment industry, led by the Recording Industry Association of America, has been trying for years to counter the phenomenon of file-sharing, where users distribute and download copyrighted music over P2P services.
Legal actions against the networks, file-swappers, the creators of software that circumvents security features, and the purchasers of that software have all been filed, with varying degrees of success.
But the industry has also been lobbying hard for the introduction of laws that will more fully protect it from copyright abuses. The proposed Induce Act (otherwise known as the Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act) is the latest of these.
Likely to be introduced to the Senate this week by Senator Orrin Hatch, the bill makes it an offence to intentionally induce any violation of the existing US Copyright Act. It defines “intentionally induces” as “intentionally aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures”, and infringers face fines or even a prison sentence.
The proposals have not yet been officially published, but have already been criticised by consumer groups and civil liberties organisations for being so broad as to attack any service or device that has the potential to be used for copyright infringement.
Jeff Joseph, vice president for communications at the Consumer Electronics Association, told CNET News.com: “It's designed to have this fuzzy feel around protecting children from pornography, but it's pretty clearly a backdoor way to eliminate and make illegal peer-to-peer services. Our concern is that you're attacking the technology."
The problem with legislating against decentralised P2P services is that shutting down the network will be near impossible. You can act against individuals who use the services; you can act against individuals or companies that make the networking software available to others; but unless you stop or sufficiently deter all these parties, you can't shut down the pure-P2P network itself.
masons