The Fed flexes its muscles... Seems logical at first...but now that the Fed has the authority...
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This is how it begins...
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doesn't a government have more important issues to deal with?Our neo-cons have just past new copyright laws that will target individual users as well as providers.Why do governments get involved in copyright? It's because business is controlling the government rather than the people who elected them.
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Originally Posted By: unsuperviseddoesn't a government have more important issues to deal with?Our neo-cons have just past new copyright laws that will target individual users as well as providers.Why do governments get involved in copyright? It's because business is controlling the government rather than the people who elected them. I agree...the Fed has crossed the line on this one. Copywrite is a civil issue...not a Federal one. But now that the Fed has the authority (asked for and aquired under the Obama administration), I don't see them stopping anytime soon. Soviet-era Russia, here we come.
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Certainly you realize movie copyrights fall under the government's control? This has been going on for years, but the MPAA and RIAA don't have the standing anymore, especially since they lied about the figures that piracy so-called "stole" from content owners/makers. You could live in France, after all, where after one ALLEGED count of piracy gets yout internet taken away.It's not the Fed, but the government, the bank has nothing to do with it. And it's not the Obama administratioin (entirely), just, like i said, the RIAA and MPAA can't compete with Joe Schmo and several other agencies that are trying to fight their old laws (DMCA) which go WAY to far in punishing. See the case about how Paramount filed copyright-infringement claims to a video that showed the studio filming Transformers 3 (in a public place)? Hadn't even been CR'd yet. Perfect example.It is illegal, and what better way than to shut down one of the worst non-torrent sites that hosts illegally obtained content? They have the right to take down said content if it violates laws, and they should do more (i.e. jail, etc, but NOT for hosts) Due process only got them so far, look at the case against The Pirate Bay. Now, it's not the same, it's a corporate thing, but they couldn't do anything, even with the Swede's cooperation, until they raided the servers.All that aside, one of the comments over there referenced the first amendment. This has nothing to do with that. This isn't free speech, it's violation of international law.All that said, I still agree it's slightly too far. And yes, government should worry about more than copyright claims, like China. Why would you even be watching TorrentFreak, thor? Doing something illegal over there? Only kidding.--My 20 cents. That is all.
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Copyright is intellectual property, and its theft has always been a matter of criminal law as well as civil law, since the concept began. Would you consider that theft of tangible property should be a civil matter only? That would make some theoretical sense, but in real life the small owner of property does not have the resources to track down thieves and take civil action against them. It has always been considered that theft affects the whole community and warrants community action.I see no difference between a salesman who owns a car and has it stolen, and a songwriter who has written a song and has it sold or spread by others who give him no fees. Both have had their livelihood stolen. In practice so far, the police will make some efforts in the first case, and take negligible interest in the second, and any improvement in that situation is to be welcomed.Having said that, the detail of copyright law desperately needs revising for the digital age. Some infringements do not dent the copyright owner's livelihood significantly and should not be a crime. It needs to be made much clearer what can and can't be done. US copyright law is particularly bad, bending over backwards to protect Mickey Mouse but affording no protection to moral rights (which, as a signatory to the international conventions on copyright, it is supposed to uphold).
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How could I forget moral rights? I just read about that yesterday on Creative Commons.Gotta love US copyrighting.