It seems the amount of greased palms is bigger than expected
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080926-ip-bill-passes-senate-no-civil-enforcement-power-for-doj.htmlThe PRO-IP Act, which would ramp up enforcement of intellectual property laws and stiffen penalties for infringers, won approval by unanimous consent in the Senate Friday—but only after legislators stripped out a controversial provision that would have empowered the Department of Justice to litigate civil suits on behalf of content owners and hand over the winnings
Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge, who though relieved at the removal of the civil enforcement language, argued that the bill "only adds more imbalance to a copyright law that favors large media companies."
With year on year claims of haemorraging revenue you do sometimes have to ask how do the RIAA get cash to "donate" to these politicians, I suppose the truth is they are not losing out and are just fabricating their supposed losses to give their claims for more "leverage power" a spot of veneer, after all I,m sure many senators feel better about selling their voters down the river when a nice fuzzy story is presented that they dont have to think over come TV interview time. Sock puppets anyone ?