[NetBehaviour] Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement.

[marc]

Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement.

The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal called 
the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is likely to 
receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music industries, and 
would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright law since a 2005 
measure dealing with prerelease piracy.

The IPPA would, for instance:

* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently 
punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 
years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes 
place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice 
Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of 
the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not 
complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")

* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. 
Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to 
cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, 
Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using 
pirated software instead of paying for it.

* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be 
authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to 
infringe copyrights.

* Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property such 
as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime 
would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil 
asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases 
as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is problematic and 
controversial.

more...
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719339-7.html