US Govt Attacks Its Citizens To Help The Music/Movie Cartels Get Fatter

[GhostShip]

This is the greatest story of political corruption ever seen since the passing of the patriot act which renderd the constitutuion void, this bill will do the same for the poor pitted against the financial muscle of the federal govt.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9753/Senate+Judiciary+Committee+Approves+P2P+Crackdown+Bill

The RIAA and MPAA are ratcheting up their efforts to combat copyright infringement in this country and around the world with the Senate Judiciary Committee's recent passage of the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act by a 14-4 margin. Say what you will about Republicans, but it should be noted that all four dissenters were Republicans: John Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Chief among the disturbing new powers the bill will grant to federal authorities is the power for the Attorney General to "...commence a civil action in the appropriate United States district court against any person who engages in conduct constituting an offense [of copyright infringement]." In other words, the Feds get to use taxpayer money and the full weight of law enforcement resources on behalf of copyright owners.

The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act is startling example of corporations attempting to abuse our legal system by tailoring it to meet their own fiscal needs. By allowing law enforcement to try you in court without the benefit of court-appointed legal representation we will effectively turn the executive branch of govt into a legal arm of the entertainment industry and vastly expand the number or accused file-sharers charged unable to properly defend themselves in court. We do this at great peril and create a precedent of mind boggling proportions.

The time to act is now, those corrupt politicians who place the copyright of a commercial record label or movie studio who can afford to pay their own way, above the liberty and financial security of an ordinary individual are unworthy of office or respect.

This is a clear declaration of war on file-sharers in the US, lets hope someone in govt wakes up to this before the people decided that enough oppression is enough and these organisations are driven off the net by force.

The committee of shame

Patrick J. Leahy CHAIRMAN, D-VERMONT

Edward M. KennedyD-MASSACHUSETTS 
Arlen SpecterRANKING MEMBER, R-PENNSYLVANIA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.D-DELAWARE
Orrin G. HatchR-UTAH
Herb Kohl D-WISCONSIN 
Charles E. Grassley R-IOWA
Dianne Feinstein D-CALIFORNIA 
Jon Kyl - Against   R-ARIZONA
Russell D. FeingoldD-WISCONSIN 

Jeff Sessions - Against   R-ALABAMA
Charles E. SchumerD-NEW YORK
Lindsey GrahamR-SOUTH CAROLINA
Richard J. DurbinD-ILLINOIS 
John CornynR-TEXAS
Benjamin L. Cardin D-MARYLAND 
Sam Brownback - Against   R-KANSAS
Sheldon Whitehouse D-RHODE ISLAND 
Tom Coburn - Against  R-OKLAHOMA

Feel free to see who got paid to vote the way they did.

http://www.opensecrets.org/cmteprofiles/profiles.php?cmteid=S17&cmte=SJUD&congno=110
 
 
 

 

[GhostShip]

It looks like not everyone is happy with this RIAA/MPAA tax that all US citizens will be made to pay

http://www.slyck.com/story1765_Public_Knowledge_Fights_Bill_Giving_Feds_Civil_Enforcement_Power

Public Knowledge is public advocacy group that, along with Free Press, filed a complaint against Comcast for their BitTorrent throttling practices. The latest fight is against the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Act of 2008, which among other things, gives the Attorney General of the United States the power to bring civil action against suspected copyright infringers.

Wouldn't it be great for the entertainment industry if a much lesser standard was available to the Department of Justice, such as civil charges? Civil charges are great because the standard upon which liability is found is considerably less than a criminal case. If you remember from your criminal justice class in high school, in a criminal case a defendant has to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil case, there only has to be a preponderance of evidence. In other words, if it looks like you could be liable (as opposed to guilty), hey, why not pin the blame on you?

This is something all those who have been following the RIAA's underhand and anti-democratic "donation" system to curry favour with politicians will have been aware of for some time, it seems the pay-offs have had the effect the RIAA wanted, they bring as many false claims as they can and rely on federal money to steamroller defendants who cannot afford representation.

This corrupt scheme does not even offer a sham of justice, anyone being sued by the federal government is likely to not be able to match the spending power of the taxpayer (likley they are even funding their own persecution(sic)), this may be a legal move atm but its certainly not fair and those who enacted it are certainly earning from their vote,it's a pity its the voters picking up the tab for what is in effect an RIAA commercial enterprise.