U.S. lawmakers approved the creation of a cabinet-level position of copyright czar as part of sweeping intellectual property enforcement legislation that sailed through the Senate on Friday.


...because the 'drug czar' was SOOOOO sucessful....

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he expected the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act "will aid federal efforts to protect American producers and American jobs millionaires."

How cool, wait for everybody to be distracted and then slip one by the taxpayers. It seems our employees are more than a little dishonest.
Don't forget to vote!

19th century legal system, 21st century technology. Which do YOU think is gonna win this fight?

Wow, America soon is going to have more Czars than Pre-Communist Russia.

I mean, that worked out well, right? Right?

Great. Just what we need. MORE government. How's that 100 day agenda going their dems?

Remember when we used to have wars on Poverty and Cancer?

Yea. There was a time when what we'd fail at was at least noble.

At least they stripped out the provision that would have made the Fed gov't responsible for enforcing civil laws. But yeah I think most of us farkers agree this is stupid. Though Weaver95 is right, it wont matter technology will keep those copyright files flying around.

Weaver95: 19th century legal system, 21st century technology. Which do YOU think is gonna win this fight?

The legal system will.

Well, if the Drug Czar is any indication, at least I don't have to worry about this actually being effective...

BIG BROTHER IS pinging your IP?

Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

Mike Fratello unavailable for comment.

driven to quit: Weaver95: 19th century legal system, 21st century technology. Which do YOU think is gonna win this fight?

The legal system will.

I'm sure they'll tell themselves that they've won....but look around dude. I don't see file trading slowing down at all. In fact, as the economy takes a dump I only expect file trading to speed UP, not go down.

WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

/hot

Weaver95: driven to quit: Weaver95: 19th century legal system, 21st century technology. Which do YOU think is gonna win this fight?

The legal system will.

I'm sure they'll tell themselves that they've won....but look around dude. I don't see file trading slowing down at all. In fact, as the economy takes a dump I only expect file trading to speed UP, not go down.


oh, i know. I was being sarcastic really. However, the legal system will eventually grab someone who is downloading and throw the book at them for no reason just to make a point. The legal system may not win this battle but someone is going to lose big time and it won't be them.

Why does this need to be a cabinet level position? I can just see the next major policy meeting....


War in Iraq? Check.
War on Terror? Check.
Fixing the big economic crisis? Check.
Stemming the tide of illegal drugs? Check.

So...Jim, how's that war on Napster going?


Kinda seems like a non issue in comparison, no?

Weaver95: WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

Either that or he means people are going to be hiding USB drives in condoms up their butts.

driven to quit: oh, i know. I was being sarcastic really. However, the legal system will eventually grab someone who is downloading and throw the book at them for no reason just to make a point. The legal system may not win this battle but someone is going to lose big time and it won't be them.

They've already done that. Several times in fact. But file trading didn't even take a pee break.

Weaver95: WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

My friend...uh...Bob, yeah, let's call him Bob, expects a major showdown between the internet community and the proverbial hand that feeds it, the ISP, as bandwidth limiting becomes more of a trend.

If quality increases, bandwidth usage increases, thus increasing the odds of hitting the 'cap' which would result in termination.

alostpacket: Weaver95: WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

Either that or he means people are going to be hiding USB drives in condoms up their butts.

Actually, you can hide nearly a terrabyte of data on your person and it won't show up on most airport detectors or be visible to anyone.

Malbar: lajimi: Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he expected the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act "will aid federal efforts to protect American producers and American jobs millionaires."

Yeah, because only millionaires are capable of creating intellectual property. :rolleyes:

IP rights apply to anyone who creates intellectual property regardless of whether they're rich, poor, a person or a corporation. IP rights often help individuals protect their creations from being exploited by corporations, but don't let that change your mind. KKKORPORATIONZ.

I'm a musician with a number of songs floating around the internet. The only reason some record label can't take them and sell them as their own, or some corporation can't use them as background music in a commercial is because I, as an individual, maintain ownership rights over those creations. Were it not for those rights, I would have no say in how my creations were used.

Some of you people need to stop letting your hatred for corporations determine every opinion you come up with, especially when they aren't even relevant half of the time.

why do you expect to be paid for a creation?

DeathByGeekSquad: If quality increases, bandwidth usage increases, thus increasing the odds of hitting the 'cap' which would result in termination.

Kinda harsh over a couple songs, dontcha think?

Theological Farker: Why does this need to be a cabinet level position? I can just see the next major policy meeting....


War in Iraq? Check.
War on Terror? Check.
Fixing the big economic crisis? Check.
Stemming the tide of illegal drugs? Check.

So...Jim, how's that war on Napster going?


Kinda seems like a non issue in comparison, no?

Indeed. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with campaign funding, as well as some overblown rhetoric about aiding al Qaeda every time I download an mp3.

/low-level mp3 dealer, got my own (little-read) blog and everything

Same old script. They keep these laws sitting in desks just waiting for the right time to shove them through (national disasters {9/11, Katrina, economic disaster}, holiday weekends, etc). And once the opportunity comes, they dust it off and jam it through, when either no one is looking, or no one cares because of the disaster that just happened.

These are the biggest wish lists of corporate America, laundry lists of everything they could ask for, drawn up by their lobbyists and tucked away for just these opportunities.

Makes you wonder about the stuff they still have sitting around that is yet to come.

Same old script.

Tsunami Ditka: /low-level mp3 dealer, got my own (little-read) blog and everything

Turrurist!

Looks like hackers will be to the internet what drug dealers were to crack- farkin rich, biatch. brb, buyin 24s

DeathByGeekSquad: Weaver95: WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

My friend...uh...Bob, yeah, let's call him Bob, expects a major showdown between the internet community and the proverbial hand that feeds it, the ISP, as bandwidth limiting becomes more of a trend.

If quality increases, bandwidth usage increases, thus increasing the odds of hitting the 'cap' which would result in termination.

What's going to kill bandwidth caps is that any company that does it has to provide reporting to their customers on how much bandwidth they've used per month. Otherwise said companies are in violation of several state and federal laws and vulnerable to some extremely expensive lawsuits.

Not to mention the fact that 1. it's easy as hell to circumvent the caps and 2. capping useage will drive away customers.

Another f*cked-up item on the list of f*cked-up shiat spewing out of Washington's spastic colon.

I live my life as clean as my mother's kitchen floor and I think this is more f*cked-up than a soup sandwich.

/f*cked-up FTL

Goodfella: And once the opportunity comes, they dust it off and jam it through, when no one is looking


I use the same strategy with - uh... right ... nevermind then.

Weaver95: 2. capping useage will drive away customers.

When they ALL do it, where ya gonna go?

Weaver95: What's going to kill bandwidth caps is that any company that does it has to provide reporting to their customers on how much bandwidth they've used per month. Otherwise said companies are in violation of several state and federal laws and vulnerable to some extremely expensive lawsuits.

Not to mention the fact that 1. it's easy as hell to circumvent the caps and 2. capping useage will drive away customers.

Boy, we're just moving backwards, aren't we? Remember the days when you'd pay a certain amount a month for a limited number of minutes on AOL or Prodigy or whatever?

You know who else hated Czars?

from the article, doesn't it say exactly the opposite happened? the copyright czar language was removed?

Weaver95: alostpacket: Weaver95: WillyShwonka: Yes. This will prevent pirating on the internet. Just like the drug czar stopped drugs. USA! USA! USA!

You mean file trading will get easier and quality will go up?

Either that or he means people are going to be hiding USB drives in condoms up their butts.

Actually, you can hide nearly a terrabyte of data on your person and it won't show up on most airport detectors or be visible to anyone.


terrabyte? that's some serious junk in the trunk!

That's funny, uTorrent still seems to be working better than my new Zen's music library software. Somebody declare war on technology that operates the way it's supposed to so this stuff will finally work.

Tsunami Ditka: Well, if the Drug Czar is any indication, at least I don't have to worry about this actually being effective...

THIS. A thousand times this!

driven to quit: Weaver95: driven to quit: Weaver95: 19th century legal system, 21st century technology. Which do YOU think is gonna win this fight?

The legal system will.

I'm sure they'll tell themselves that they've won....but look around dude. I don't see file trading slowing down at all. In fact, as the economy takes a dump I only expect file trading to speed UP, not go down.


oh, i know. I was being sarcastic really. However, the legal system will eventually grab someone who is downloading and throw the book at them for no reason just to make a point. The legal system may not win this battle but someone is going to lose big time and it won't be them.

Well if the war on drugs is any guide, certain jurisdictions will prove really successful in using the war on copyright infringement to disenfranchise black voters - already at over 25% in eight states, and projected to reach around 40% in all states that disenfranchise ex-felons. Remember that you can become an 'ex-felon' from being caught selling drugs a single time, and never even going to jail.

Note that this isn't controversial, these were openly held policies 100 years ago, and the pattern has not changed despite supposed 'racial equality'. For example:

Crimes that triggered disenfranchisement were written to include crimes blacks supposedly committed more frequently than whites and to exclude crimes whites were believed to commit more frequently. For example, in South Carolina, "among the disqualifying crimes were those to which [the Negro] was especially prone: thievery, adultery, arson, wife-beating, housebreaking, and attempted rape. Such crimes as murder and fighting, to which the white man was as disposed as the Negro, were significantly omitted from the list." In 1901 Alabama lawmakers-who openly stated that their goal was to establish white supremacy-included a provision in the state constitution that made conviction of crimes of "moral turpitude" the basis for disenfranchisement.

Falcc: That's funny, uTorrent still seems to be working better than my new Zen's music library software. Somebody declare war on technology that operates the way it's supposed to so this stuff will finally work.

Exactly. What motivation do I have to pay for this stuff when I can find it for free more easily, with better quality, and without restrictions?

oh. Goody.

Whoever's brilliant idea this was needs to be removed from office immediately.

This could be bad news...for Hollywood.

Seriously.

If there's an official cabinet-level position dealing with copyright, this person will be forced to acknowledge that certain Fair Use exemptions exist, unlike the current crop of execs, who pretend it doesn't.

And it gives abusive copyright opponents a single place to attack, instead of multiple ones.

Theological Farker: Weaver95: 2. capping useage will drive away customers.

When they ALL do it, where ya gonna go?

steal bandwidth from any one of the several hundred open wi-fi hotspots around town.

SilentStrider: Whoever's brilliant idea this was needs to be removed from office immediately.

Cosponsors of S.3325:

Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN] - 9/23/2008
Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 7/24/2008
Sen Bond, Christopher S. [MO] - 9/23/2008
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 9/24/2008
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 9/26/2008
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 9/10/2008
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 9/25/2008
Sen Corker, Bob [TN] - 9/18/2008
Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 7/24/2008
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 9/23/2008
Sen Gregg, Judd [NH] - 9/25/2008
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 9/11/2008
Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 9/24/2008
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 9/25/2008
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 9/24/2008
Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR] - 9/24/2008
Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 9/26/2008
Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH] - 7/24/2008
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 8/1/2008

They've been pulling this kind of crap for a few years now:

Link

Read closely. The Dept of Homeland Security was involved in a Bitorrent case?! WTF?

By what twisted logic should file sharing fall under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security?

Weaver95: steal bandwidth from any one of the several hundred open wi-fi hotspots around town.

Ah, right, good call.

/Not from me you won't.
//Actually secures his wireless network.

fifth_of_november: They've been pulling this kind of crap for a few years now:

Link

Read closely. The Dept of Homeland Security was involved in a Bitorrent case?! WTF?

By what twisted logic should file sharing fall under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security?

The terrorists were watching spiderman 3 bootleg copies! OMG! TEH TERRER!

SilentStrider: oh. Goody.

Whoever's brilliant idea this was needs to be removed from office immediately.

S.3325
Title: A bill to enhance remedies for violations of intellectual property laws, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 7/24/2008) Cosponsors (21)
Latest Major Action: 9/26/2008 Held at the desk. COSPONSORS(21), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)


Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN] - 9/23/2008
Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 7/24/2008
Sen Bond, Christopher S. [MO] - 9/23/2008
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 9/24/2008
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 9/26/2008
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 9/10/2008
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 9/25/2008
Sen Corker, Bob [TN] - 9/18/2008
Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 7/24/2008
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 9/23/2008
Sen Gregg, Judd [NH] - 9/25/2008
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 9/11/2008
Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 9/24/2008
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 9/25/2008
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 9/24/2008
Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR] - 9/24/2008
Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 9/26/2008
Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH] - 7/24/2008
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 8/1/2008

To be fair copyright law isn't my first priority in a lawmaker. However it does put a dark spot on all of those senators in my mind.

Theological Farker: SilentStrider: Whoever's brilliant idea this was needs to be removed from office immediately.

Cosponsors of S.3325:

Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN] - 9/23/2008
Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 7/24/2008
Sen Bond, Christopher S. [MO] - 9/23/2008
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 9/24/2008
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 9/26/2008
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 9/10/2008
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 9/25/2008
Sen Corker, Bob [TN] - 9/18/2008
Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 7/24/2008
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 9/23/2008
Sen Gregg, Judd [NH] - 9/25/2008
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 9/11/2008
Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 9/24/2008
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 9/25/2008
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 9/24/2008
Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR] - 9/24/2008
Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 7/24/2008
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 9/26/2008
Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH] - 7/24/2008
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 8/1/2008

Your thomas.loc.gov speed skillz. I wantz them :)