Now the RIAA Wants Your House!

I spent the past few evenings, intentionally isolating myself from distraction, at the local library. I had done so because I had a briefcase full of printed documents regarding numerous RIAA cases. I am not going to delve into those matters quite yet but it does seem that the courts have knocked a good bit of the wind out of the "sue the consumer into submission campaign".

I was almost starting to believe that people like Ray Beckerman, Cory Doctorow and groups like the EFF and boycott-RIAA were beginning to have an impact. I even found a great deal of humor in this Onion News Story. My joy was short lived… I returned home to this and this.

I know I am a naive. I should have seen it coming. They will just switch gears and tactics. These dogs are so dirty that they actually do learn new tricks. Now they are lobbying to pass a law that will allow them to seize your home. I am under the impression that they will somehow scheme to work with the NSA and simply start seizing laptops, phones and media players "just in case there is anything on em". The "PRO IP Act" is nothing like the name implies. According to this article at the EFF it described as follows:

… the PRO IP Act is just another in a long line of "one-way ratchet" proposals that amplifies copyright without protecting innovators or technology users. One provision, entitled "Computation of Statutory Damages in Copyright Cases," seems aimed at allowing the music industry to threaten even higher statutory damages in its campaign to sue filesharers. Copyright law currently allows the RIAA to seek statutory damages per album, while the new law would allow them to seek damages per song. Under the new limits proposed by the PRO IP Act, someone who downloads each individual track from Guns N’ Roses’ 12-track Appetite for Destruction album could face a maximum statutory penalty of $360,000; as opposed to the current limit of $30,000 for the album.

The bill will also create a taxpayer funded federal agency to police intellectual property. Now considering that almost every Senator and Representative has received funds from the RIAA, I am sure that this new agency will honest, forthright and really represent the citizens. I am sure that they would in no way be some type of police force for the RIAA and MPAA. Yeah Right!

I also know that I often confuse people with my demeanor. I am a sarcastic imp. Folks this is a serious matter, all jokes aside. Your Senators need to hear from you on this. Please go this contact info site and drop them a line and/or letter. That is unless you trust an organization that uses unliscenced investigators, seems to have a real hard time explaining how their investigative tactics actually identify individuals, has sent violation notices to printers, and accused the dead and people who don’t even own PCs of pirating. Of course, you could decide to do nothing now and just fight them in court. Keep in mind that their 05-06 tax returns indicates that they doled out over 17 million in legal fees per year so you should start saving now.

By the way, if you would like to use the logic that you do not download and are, therefore, safe, I suspect you are wrong. Spending the last few days reading over "expert witness" disposition and information regarding how they identify a violator, I am pretty much agree with several judges. They are doing nothing more than creating speculation.