(iverson's) currentbuzz: Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement

Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")
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Source: news.com.com

So, what was really behind the "Patriot Act?" As we see the administration through its venal representative, our current Attorney General, Gonzalez, present this kind of legislation, the outlines of totalitarian repression stand out starkly.

When corporate leaders like those at Enron can engineer schemes that rob regular working stiffs of pensions and livelihoods, and get off with slap on the wrist penalties, why should some teenager or music-lover face draconian penalties for mixing up some songs or putting Mickey Mouse on a child's birthday cake?

The money these corporate interests flood into congress is talking big here.

It is time to revisit whether corporations are "humans" and thus should be able to call for protection under the Bill of Rights and constitution. It is time to limit contributions to any elected official to those who can actually vote for the person that is running.

Write to your congress person now and tell them this is disgraceful. This would end up putting infringers in jail longer than murderers in some cases.

The culture and our thought belongs to the people, not to big business. Keep our minds and ideas free. We need copyleft not copyright.