US Industry Lobbyists Hope India Will Lock Up More Potential Copyright Infringers

from the that'll-solve-the-problem dept

Back in February, there was a fair bit of attention paid to some of the more ridiculous parts of the IIPA's filing for the USTR's Special 301 report, which seeks to figure out which countries US diplomats should threaten most heavily over their failure to kowtow to US copyright interests. The IIPA is, of course, the mega-lobbying group, made up of a variety of other lobbying groups, including the RIAA, MPAA, BSA, ESA and NMPA. A lot of attention was paid, in particular, to the IIPA's claims that countries that promoted open source software (something that would reduce infringement) were as bad, if not worse, than those that did not crack down on unauthorized copying.

However, some parts of the IIPA's are even more troubling. Public Knowledge has been digging through the report and is reasonably troubled by the call by the IIPA to expand pre-trial detentions in India for those accused of copyright infringement. The PK article goes through this issue in great detail, but basically some parts of India have laws that allow the gov't to lock people up as a form of "preventative detention" for people they're afraid might do something (think Minority Report's "pre-crime"). Not surprisingly, there are some concerns about how these rules have been used to violate human rights -- but still, they are mostly used for "drug-smugglers, human traffickers, bootleggers, and the like." However, two parts of India expanded the law to cover copyright violations -- and, in the case of Tamil Nadu, it was expanded all the way down to merely the potential of possessing a bootleg movie or CD.

In its report, the IIPA claims that by expanding the law to cover copyright, Tamil Nadu successfully deterred infringement. But Public Knowledge looked through the details and found that there was only a temporary blip (something that the IIPA fails to mention, of course):
Given this state of affairs, it's hardly surprising that pretrial detention would "continue[] to result in some deterrence," as the IIPA claims. But while initial reports showed that the imminent addition of 'video piracy' to Tamil Nadu's Goondas Act had a huge deterrent effect, by the time the rule had been in effect for a year piracy had largely bounced back and the local film industry was already clamoring for even more laws. Even the formation of a special video anti-piracy police force (something, incidentally, that the IIPA often calls for in its reports) did not stem the tide of piracy in Tamil Nadu. So it's unclear how much deterrence these statutes even produce.
Now, of course, it seems troubling enough that a group representing the RIAA, MPAA, BSA and others would call for locking up people for up to a year just because they might come into possession of an unauthorized product, but it's even more troubling that the IIPA appears to be calling for the US diplomats to punish or threaten India if they do not expand this rule even further. This rule already goes way beyond anything that would be legal in the US, and the point of the Special 301 report is to highlight countries that don't provide "adequate and effective" rules for protecting copyright. Yet, when a country goes way beyond what's reasonable, the IIPA is still complaining? And even when those laws don't appear to help and seem ripe for serious human rights violations? Wow.
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: iipa, india, lobbyists, ustr


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    NAMELESS.ONE, 7 Apr 2010 @ 3:10pm

    ya like overloading prisons is gonna solve there issues

    all this does is teach people to punch out actors and musicians associated to them and i'll add you start making the punishment to harsh people are going to get hurt

    AND WE OUT NUMBER YOU BIG TIME

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 3:15pm

    What About the US?

    This rule already goes way beyond anything that would be legal in the US, and the point of the Special 301 report is to highlight countries that don't provide "adequate and effective" rules for protecting copyright.

    By the IIPA's standards, then, the US should certainly add itself to the list. Ha! Let's see if they do.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    FUTURE ACTA ENFORCER, 7 Apr 2010 @ 3:21pm

    People are just going to have to learn their place.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    www.eZee.se (profile), 7 Apr 2010 @ 3:41pm

    The only part that surprises me in this post is the surprise you have shown here Mike:

    "And even when those laws don't appear to help and seem ripe for serious human rights violations? Wow. "

    I would think you of all people would know these bags of scum and bones (collectively known as the IIPA) better than most people and wouldn't get surprised so easily.

    /iPirate

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    FUTURE RECTAL ACTA SUPPORT AGENT, 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:45pm

    for burnt out ACTA ENFORCERS with too much up there butts

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 5:47pm

    Customers in jail

    Honestly, IIPA... If I go to jail, how am I ever going to buy products from the companies you lobby for?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2010 @ 10:35pm

    The U.S. Government backing up abuse of human rights that is nice.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    mike allen (profile), 8 Apr 2010 @ 12:57am

    please

    Dont the British MPs ideas the lords may add pre infringment jail time to the DEB

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 5:13am

    Re:

    pick up that can

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 5:16am

    Re:

    Most Americans are clueless as to why they are hated elsewhere, could this be one of many reasons?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 8 Apr 2010 @ 6:59am

    and I look into my crystal ball

    The future holds ... a police state ... a revolution ... alot less lawyers ...

    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.