What's Next -- Thought Crimes?
Attorney General Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy . . . The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: 'It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.'"
Okay, I can understand the logic behind prosecuting someone who attempts to commit a murder, tries to steal a car or attempts to rob a house or bank, but trying to enact legislation that will make it a crime to attempt to commit copyright infringement? I dunno -- that seems a bit of a stretch to me.
No one is hurt in an attempted copyright infringement, no guns are drawn, no doors are kicked in, no bystanders taken hostage, no families screaming in terror, no shouted orders to "give me your keys and get out of the car or I'll f***king blow your brains out!"
I'm all for copyright laws, and for protecting intellectual property from those who just want to hitch a free ride off other people's hard work, but changing the standards of prosecution for copyright infringement from actual infringement to merely attempted infringement is even too much for me.
I mean, what's the standard here? How will they go about proving an attempt at copyright infringement if no actual infringement has taken place? And if the government is allowed to seize all your computer equipment on the mere suspicion that an attempt at copyright infringement might be taking place, then this type of legislation strips away one more layer of citizen protection against illegal search and seizure.
I can see where law enforcement officials might applaud this move as a very simple way of getting their hands on the computer hard drives of suspected drug traffickers and money launderers ("But your honor, we believe these people may be attempting copyright infringement!"), and I'm certain the Recording Industry and the Motion Picture Industry are jumping up and down with glee at the news, but is such a vague and overly broad piece of legislation beneficial for the rest of us?