DamnedIfIknow used our news submit to tell us that there could soon be another worry for those that are still file sharing. The Pirate Act is a proposal that if passed by the Senate would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers, with fines reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This means that the taxpayer will be helping to enforce the copyrights for the RIAA. If the so called Pirate Act becomes law, Uncle Sam could place you under electronic surveilance with wiretaps if deemed necessary, to get the prroper evidence for it's case.
The Pirate Act was crafted to respond
to the Justice Department's concern. "Federal prosecutors have been
hindered in their pursuit of pirates by the fact that they were limited to
bringing criminal charges with high burdens of proof," Sen. Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., said in March. "Prosecutors can rarely justify bringing criminal
charges, and copyright owners have been left alone to fend for themselves,
defending their rights only where they can afford to do so. In a world in
which a computer and an Internet connection are all the tools you need to
engage in massive piracy, this is an intolerable predicament."
The RIAA's Glazier said: "The idea
was to give prosecutors the flexibility to decide whether to bring a civil
case against somebody. Giving them a criminal fine with a criminal record
was viewed as a fairly harsh penalty for the activity...You're still
committing a crime. But (prosecutors) are given a flexible remedy so
there's some proportionality."
For copyright holders, there's an
additional bonus. Unlike when the RIAA files its own lawsuits against
peer-to-peer users, such as the 493 defendants it announced this week, the
Justice Department likely would be able to seek wiretaps to collect
evidence about P2P infringement. Current
wiretap law says electronic communications may be intercepted when a potential
federal felony is being
investigated.
This would of course be a very disturbing invasion of privacy, all in the name of copyright protection. What makes this measure concerning as well. is the situation of double jeopardy. It's not out of the question that a citizen could be hit with a civil lawsuit from the government for tens of thousands of dollars, then have the RIAA come along next and sue that person again, for the same incidences.
