[LINK] US Senate May Ram Copyright Bill

[Cyberwlf]

Care of the FTA and sharing of copyright laws this will affect us if it gets
passed..

"Senate May Ram Copyright Bill  By Michael Grebb 

02:00 AM Nov. 16, 2004 PT

WASHINGTON -- Several lobbying camps from different industries and ideologies
are joining forces to fight an overhaul of copyright law, which they say would
radically shift in favor of Hollywood and the record companies and which
Congress might try to push through during a lame-duck session that begins this
week. 

The Senate might vote on the Intellectual Property Protection Act, a
comprehensive bill that opponents charge could make many users of peer-to-peer
networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for
copyright infringement. The bill would also undo centuries of "fair use" --
the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works
of others without having to ask permission or pay. 

The bill lumps together several pending copyright bills including HR4077, the
Piracy Deterrence and Education Act, which would criminally punish a person
who "infringes a copyright by ... offering for distribution to the public by
electronic means, with reckless disregard of the risk of further
infringement." Critics charge the vague language could apply to a person who
uses the popular Apple iTunes music-sharing application. 

The bill would also permit people to use technology to skip objectionable
content -- like a gory or sexually explicit scene -- in films, a right that
consumers already have. However, under the proposed law, skipping any
commercials or promotional announcements would be prohibited. The proposed law
also includes language from the Pirate Act (S2237), which would permit the
Justice Department to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright
infringers. 

Also under the proposed law, people who bring a video camera into a movie
theater to make a copy of the film for distribution would be imprisoned for
three years, fined or both. 

The Recording Industry Association of America vigorously defended the bill,
saying it would provide a "common sense set of tools that will help law
enforcement better deter and prosecute theft.".."

Full article here http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65704,00.html