Download An Mp3 and Go To Jail

"The Copyright Wars and the recent grotesque expansion of rights and remedies should be regarded as a legal equivalent of the subprime mortgage crisis: cancers on our system that were foreseeable and preventable but for greed, a failed ideology that the unregulated private pursuit of profit is also in the best interest of the public, and worldwide lack of political courage to admit to and take responsibility for the damage caused by copyright laws that harm rather than serve the public."

"The term graduated response should be replaced with a more accurate term 'digital guillotine,' reflecting its killing of a critical way people connect with the world and in some cases, eliminating their ability to make a living. If proportionality is a hallmark of civilization, the digital guillotine is the hallmark of barbarians... The French Revolution shows that when we are in the throes of a moral panic, harsh, disproportionate measures can be made to appear essential."

"Corporate copyright owners live in fear, especially fear of their own consumers. Those consumers are young, tech savvy, and have wrested control over corporations' physical product from them, an unthinkable act 10 years ago. The result is a classical moral panic against youth... The Copyright Wars are a fight against our own children and it is a fight that says everything about the adults and very little about the children."

"The DMCA is the 21st-century equivalent of letting copyright owners put a chastity belt on someone else's wife."

"I cannot think of a single significant innovation in neither the creation or distribution of works of authorship that owes its origins to the copyright industries."

William  Patry

Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars

In September, I posted an article about the Cybersecurity Act and its possible consequences. Well, the Obama administration is at it again with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This agreement, which may be passed by the time you read this, has in its internet chapter the followings points:

    ISPs will have to police the copyrights on user-generated content. They will be required to deter unauthorized storage and transmission of  “ infringing” content.
    “Notice-and-takedown” will be an ACTA requirement. Whether or not a piece of content or media violates a copyright will be arbitrary. Without any proof of actual violation, the content will be removed by the ISP as soon as a takedown notice is issued. The takedown will be enforced regardless of considerations such as fair use.
    Requires ISPs  to cut off internet access for copyright violators.  A three-strikes rule will apply. ISPs will be required to terminate the user's account after three complaints from the content owner.
    Extending criminal enforcement to both (1) cases of a commercial nature; and (2) cases involving significant willful copyright and trademark infringement even where there is no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain. Non-commercial infringement could lead to criminal penalties, even jail time.

It’s time to take the kiddies to bed because this article is about to go into tirade mode.

Hey, government dudes, listen up.  You’re telling us, (We the people), that we can lose our internet access and be put in jail for downloading a fuckin’ song? Are you out of your collective minds? I just don’t think you quite get it.

The internet has always been about sharing. In the early days before browswers, Flash movies, and AOL/Time Warner; people shared information, code, etc. That’s what “opensource” is all about. I’ve been on the internet a long time, (I remember using text only bulletin boards), and the community is pissed. Get a clue!