[governance] US Senate Passes PRO-IP Act

[Jeffrey A. Williams]

All,

"The Senate has
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080926-ip-bill-passes-senate-no-civil-enforcement-power-for-doj.html

passed the PRO-IP Act. While they
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/0311207&tid=266
stripped out the provision  to have the DoJ act as copyright cops, it
still contains increased penalties for infringement, civil forfeiture
provisions, and creates an 'IP czar' to coordinate enforcement. Even
though the civil forfeiture provisions are ostensibly intended for
use against commercial piracy outfits, history indicates that they
will probably get used against individuals at some point. Worse,
because they left out the only part of the bill that Bush threatened
to veto, it is expected to pass.
It is going  http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10052271-38.html back
to the House where they're expected to pass it on Saturday, after which
the President will probably sign it. So, if you want to
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml contact your representative,
hurry." An anonymous reader notes that DefectiveByDesign.Org is
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/stop-revised-riaa-ip-enforcement-bill-s3325
mobilizing to fight this legislation. The Senate vote was unanimous.

Regards,

Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
   Abraham Lincoln

"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt

"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
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