Major Copyright Bill Boosts Penalties, Creates New Agency

It might be safe to say that industry capitulation is a long shot at this point.

From Declan McCullagh, CNET News:

Top Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday introduced a sweeping 69-page bill that ratchets up civil penalties for copyright infringement, boosts criminal enforcement, and even creates a new federal agency charged with bringing about a national and international copyright crackdown.

"By providing additional resources for enforcement of intellectual property, we ensure that innovation and creativity will continue to prosper in our society," Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich) said in a statement.

The legislation, called the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, or PRO IP Act, is throughly bipartisan. The top Republican, Lamar Smith of Texas, on the Judiciary committee is a sponsor. So is Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chair of the subcommittee that writes copyright law, and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).

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Senator Hatch: "I would have more if it weren’t for piracy"

Hey, wasn't Senator Hatch supporting Napster way back in 2000? Oh, that's right, he changed his mind once his chief counsel was hired to lobby for them.

From Matthew Hay Brown, The Swamp:

Lyle Lovett and Alice Peacock came to Capitol Hill today to ask lawmakers to make radio stations pay recording artists when they broadcast their music. But they weren’t the only singer-songwriters at the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a former chairman of the panel, seized the opportunity to remind the audience of his own musical career. The Utah Republican, who has recorded several CDs of inspirational and patriotic music, reminisced about receiving his first royalty check, and spoke of his gold and platinum records.

“I’ve been told I would have more if it weren’t for piracy,” he said, before Sen. Arlen Specter steered the hearing back to the issue at hand.

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Man Overboard at Boing Boing

Cayocosta

Boing Boing took time off yesterday from their "directory of wonderful things" theme (and otherwise shilling of co-editor Cory Doctorow's books, while censoring his critics) to attack the "corrupt" congressmen that have supported a new bill designed to reduce music-piracy at universities.

In fact, it was Doctorow himself who threw the devoid of substance, out-of-context tantrum wherein he urged his readership to "remember those names come election time" while resorting to the hackneyed portrayal of an entertainment industry composed of "ailing giants" and dysphemistically rendering its attempt to control piracy as "punish[ing] kids who listen to music."

If that weren't enough, the idea that universities subscribe to an authorized music provider he spun as "piss[ing] away money on a useless service" with music-pirates euphemistically represented as simply "file-sharers."

Sadly, in light of this nascent threat, Doctorow even stooped to the exploitation of low-income children to further facilitate his populist rant.

Democrats: Colleges Must Police Copyright, Or Else

From Anne Broache, News.com:

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students.

The U.S. House of Representatives bill, which was introduced late Friday by top Democratic politicians, could give the movie and music industries a new revenue stream by pressuring schools into signing up for monthly subscription services such as Ruckus and Napster. Ruckus is advertising-supported, and Napster charges a monthly fee per student.

According to the bill, if universities did not agree to test "technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity," all of their students--even ones who don't own a computer--would lose federal financial aid.

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