[DMCA-Activists] Biden: Ban Spoofing of Digital Restrictions Management

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from POLITECH list, address@hidden)

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 10:07:06 -0400
From: Declan McCullagh <address@hidden>


http://news.com.com/2010-1071-946732.html?tag=politech

Pirate this, go to jail

By Declan McCullagh 
July 29, 2002

WASHINGTON--Sen. Joseph Biden has become one of the newest
field marshals in Congress' intellectual property wars.

After the 59-year old Delaware Democrat took over the
Foreign Relations committee last year, the software and
entertainment industries enlisted him in their anti-piracy
struggles. That prompted Biden to convene a hearing where he
denounced copyright thievery in stentorian tones. "Windows
XP was available for illegal use on the streets of Moscow
two months before it was released in the U.S. by Microsoft,"
Biden said. "Every episode of "Seinfeld" is now available to
download free to anyone with access to the Internet."

At the hearing in February, Biden released a 52-page report
written by his aides and titled: "Theft of American
Intellectual Property: Fighting Crime Abroad and At Home."
One section devoted to counterfeit products expressed the
worry that "counterfeiters flood markets with their
underpriced products and steal a great deal of revenue."

A few weeks later, Biden introduced a bill titled the
"Anticounterfeiting Amendments of 2002." It originally
targeted the kind of large-scale pirates who manufacture
fake Windows holograms, but in a little-noticed move this
month before being sent to the Senate floor, the proposed
legislation was rewritten to encompass technology used in
digital rights management.

Biden's new bill would make it a federal felony to try and
trick certain types of devices into playing your music or
running your computer program. Breaking this law--even if
it's to share music by your own garage band--could land you
in prison for up to five years. And that's not counting the
civil penalties of up to $25,000 per offense.

[...]

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