House Panel Deletes Higher Copyright Fines From Pro IP Bill, Leaves Plenty Of Other Bad Stuff

from the this-is-not-a-good-idea dept

Last year, the House of Representatives introduced a bi-partisan "Pro IP" bill that had a ton of horrible parts to it that many realized was actually very anti-IP. One of the problems with the bill was that it attempted to raise the fines for copyright infringement even higher than the already ridiculous fines. However, with the RIAA unable to give a good reason why fines should be higher, it looks like Congress has agreed to remove that one section of the bill to get it approved by the IP subcommittee.

This makes an absolutely awful and dangerous bill marginally better, but still extremely problematic. It still involves the creation of a new federal bureaucracy designed to focus solely on trying to track down and stop "pirates." Even the Justice Department is against this part of the bill -- though, perhaps only because it wants to retain the job of going after copyright infringers. Also, just because the higher fines have been removed, supporters of the bill make it clear they may not be gone for good, and could very well be added back in later in the process. What isn't explained is why Congress needs to get involved at all. The industry has long been exposed as exaggerating the extent of this problem, and as we see day after day after day, new business models keep showing up that suggest this issue is merely a business model problem, not a legal issue -- and certainly not a legal issue that requires a brand new federal bureaucracy charged with protecting a single industry's business model.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: congress, copyright, pro ip


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2008 @ 6:14pm

    Bad Bill

    In this bill, would copyright infringement no longer be a civil matter and become a felony ?

    This is not within the governments duties.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2008 @ 6:57pm

    Re: Bad Bill

    Lots of things aren't within government duties, that doesn't keep them from getting involved though.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Le Blue Dude, 6 Mar 2008 @ 7:11pm

    The house

    is the house of reps still blocking it?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2008 @ 9:35pm

    That's a good idea. I agree with #1, copyright should be civil, but hey, if you have the money you can lobby congress for anything.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Rekrul, 7 Mar 2008 @ 11:52am

    A government of the corporations, by the coporations, for the corporations.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2008 @ 12:23pm

    Why not stop the pirates?

    I don't see why it is bad to try to stop "pirates." If they actually stop pirates without affecting the legitimate users of torrents and p2p, then why worry about it unless you are a pirate.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Qzaki Webmaster, 29 Mar 2008 @ 2:34pm

    Follow the money...

    Here is a link to an article that follows the $1,100,000 money trail that secured a PRO-IP bill sponsorship from Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA, Pasadena). The Schiff Files$1,100,000 Campaign Cash Secures PRO-IP Sponsorship [PDF] discuss As you will note from the links, he totally brushed off his constituent concerns on PRO-IP. Do you think Disney executives have to go to his town hall meetings to discuss the issue?

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.