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<h1 class="entry-title"><a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/copyright-infringement-now-seen-as-terrorism.html">Is
Copyright Infringement Now Seen As Terrorism?</a></h1>
<div class="entry-meta"> <span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted
on</span> <a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/copyright-infringement-now-seen-as-terrorism.html"
title="5:13 am" rel="bookmark"><span class="entry-date">March 4,
2013</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span
class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog"
title="View all posts by WashingtonsBlog">WashingtonsBlog</a></span>
</div>
<div class="entry-content">
<h3 style="color: #000099;">Government Uses Law As a Sword Against
Dissent</h3>
<p>We <a title="reported"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/ter%C2%B7ror%C2%B7ist-noun-anyone-who-disagrees-with-the-government-2.html">reported</a>
last year:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The government treats copyright infringers as terrorists, and
swat teams have been deployed against them. See <a
title="this"
href="http://news.cnet.com/Terrorist-link-to-copyright-piracy-alleged/2100-1028_3-5722835.html"
target="_blank">this</a>, <a title="this"
href="http://techliberation.com/2007/01/17/swat-teams-enforcing-copyright/"
target="_blank">this</a>, <a title="this"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversial_invocations_of_the_USA_PATRIOT_Act#Investigating_copyright_infringement"
target="_blank">this</a> and <a title="this"
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100129/0630057974.shtml"
target="_blank">this</a>.</p>
<p>As the executive director of the Information Society Project
at Yale Law School <a title="notes"
href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/enough-already-the-sopa-debate-ignores-how-much-copyright-protection-we-already-have/252742/#bio"
target="_blank">notes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This administration … publishes a newsletter about its
efforts with language that compares copyright infringement
to terrorism.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p><b>The American government is using copyright laws to crack
down on political dissent </b><b><a title="just like China
and Russia"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/12/americas-future-russians-and-chinese-use-copyright-crusade-to-crush-government-criticism.html">just
like China and Russia</a></b><b>.</b></p>
<p>We noted last month that the “cyber-security” laws have <a
title="very little to do with security"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/02/the-white-house-is-judge-jury-and-executioner-of-both-drone-and-cyber-attacks.html"><em>very
little</em> to do with security</a>.</p>
<p>The Verge <a target="_blank" title="reported"
href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/14/3989686/white-house-says-cyber-threats-include-web-site-defacement-ip-theft">reported</a>
last month:</p>
<blockquote>
<div>In the State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama
<a target="_blank" title="announced"
href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/12/3982302/president-obama-signs-cybersecurity-order">announced</a>
a sweeping <a title="executive order"
href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/executive-order-improving-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity"
target="_blank">executive order</a> implementing new
national cybersecurity measures, opening the door for
intelligence agencies to share more information about
suspected “cyber threats” with private companies that oversee
the nation’s “critical infrastructure.” The order is
voluntary, giving companies the choice of whether or not they
want to receive the information, and takes effect in four
months, by June 12.</div>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Cyber threats cover a wide range of malicious activity that
can occur through cyberspace,” wrote Caitlin Hayden,
spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, in
an email to <em>The Verge</em>. “Such threats include web
site defacement, espionage,<strong> theft of intellectual
property</strong>, denial of service attacks, and
destructive malware.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“The EO [executive order] relies on the definition of
critical infrastructure found in the Homeland Security Act of
2002,” Hayden wrote.</p>
<p><a title="The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PDF)"
href="http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/hr_5005_enr.pdf"
target="_blank">The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PDF)</a>,
passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks,
was what created the Department of Homeland Security. At that
time, the US was still reeling from the attacks and Congress
sought to rapidly bolster the nation’s defenses, including
“critical infrastructure” as part of its definition of
“terrorism.” As the act states: “The term ‘terrorism’ means
any activity that involves an act that is dangerous to human
life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or
key resources…”</p>
<p>But again, that act doesn’t exactly spell out which
infrastructure is considered “critical,” instead pointing to
the definition as outlined in a <a title="2001 bill"
href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/5195c"
target="_blank">2001 bill</a>, also passed in response to
September 11, which reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The term “critical infrastructure” means systems and
assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United
States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems
and assets would have a debilitating impact on security,
national economic security, national public health or
safety, or any combination of those matters.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is the same exact definition that was originally
provided in the <a target="_blank" title="president’s
cybersecurity order"
href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/executive-order-improving-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity">president’s
cybersecurity order</a> as originally published on Tuesday,
meaning that the White House appears to be relying to some
degree on <a title="circular reasoning"
href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/circular+reasoning"
target="_blank">circular reasoning</a> when it comes to that
definition. Some in Washington, including the right-leaning
think tank <a title="The Heritage Foundation"
href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/02/obama-s-cybersecurity-executive-order-falls-short"
target="_blank">The Heritage Foundation</a>, are worried
that the definition is too broad and “could be understood to
include systems normally considered outside the cybersecurity
conversation, such as agriculture.”</p>
<p>In fact, the Department of Homeland Security, which is one of
the agencies that will be sharing information on cyber threats
thanks to the order, includes <a title="18 different
industries"
href="http://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors"
target="_blank">18 different industries</a> in its own label
of “critical infrastructure,” from agriculture to banking to
national monuments. There’s an argument to be made that
including such a broad and diverse swath of industries under
the blanket term “critical” is reasonable given the overall
increasing dependence of virtually all businesses on the
internet for core functions. But even in that case, its
unclear how casting such a wide net would be helpful in
defending against cyber threats, especially as there is a
limited pool of those with the expertise and ability to do so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s not just intellectual property. The government is widely
using <a title="anti-terror laws"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html">anti-terror
laws</a> to help giant businesses … and to <a title="crush
those who speak out against their abusive practices"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/government-and-big-banks-joined-forces-to-violently-crush-peaceful-protests.html">crush
those who speak out against their abusive practices</a>,
labeling anyone who speaks out against as a <a title="potential
bad guy"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/the-fbi-drowning-in-counter-terrorism-money-power-and-other-resources-will-apply-the-term-terrorism-to-any-group-it-dislikes-and-wants-to-control-and-suppress.html">potential
bad guy</a>.</p>
</div>
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