The Absurd Become Ridiculous
Copyright enforcement gets a big boost at the expense of the public at large. HR2391 – The Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2004 expands copyright law to make the US Justice Department the publicly funded law firm of the RIAA and the Recording Industry as a whole.
Wired has an article about the proposed law which among other items would:
- Codify the permitted use of the fast forward button to bypass objectionable scenes in movies and television show (this was illegal?), while prohibiting the ability to bypass commercials and promotional announcements (lobbyists and special interest groups at their best). I’d like to see you try and pry my 3 TiVOs out of my cold dead hands!!!!
- Criminally punish a person who “infringes a copyright by … offering for distribution to the public by electronic means, with reckless disregard of the risk of further infringement.” Turning on music sharing in iTunes may actually put you in violation of this portion of the proposed law.
- Fine and or imprison for up to three years, any person who brings a video camera into a movie theater to make a copy of the film for distribution (there are violent criminals that aren’t put away for that long).
A long list of groups have lined up against this proposed law, including the Consumer Electronics Association, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the American Conservative Union and Public Knowledge.
This might be a reason to contact your congress person and let your views be known.