| What? More "security" (read: infringement on our rights to privacy)
New bill injects FBI into P2P battle By David Becker
Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 20, 2003, 4:27 PM PT
A bill introduced in Congress on Thursday would put federal agents in the business of investigating and prosecuting copyright violations, including online swapping of copyrighted works.
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... the bill includes a number of troubling aspects, particularly the blurring of distinctions between official prosecution of criminal acts and civil enforcement of copyright provisions.
"It's doing a bunch of things to get the FBI more involved with private enforcement of intellectual-property rights," said Wendy Seltzer, staff attorney for the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). "It gives them a chance to scare a lot of users into thinking the government is after them."
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The bill comes just days after Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, raised alarm by suggesting that copyright holders should be allowed to remotely destroy the PCs of music pirates.
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