U.S President George Bush has recently signed The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 – thus making it a law. The act, which was previously criticized by the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce, found support from some quarters, thanks to the ongoing economic crisis. There are now allegations that supporters of this act played the “save the economy” card to have this passed – instead of the usual procedure of verifying facts and then proceeding with the passage.
The new law will authorize the creation of what is touted to be the “copyright czar” with absolute rights to forfeit articles if suspected of being used in committing a crime. The “crime” here refers to suspected copyright infringement. Some of the claims that support the bill include things like how the law could create new jobs and save the $250 billion loss that Piracy costs the US annually. The MPAA, obviously in support of the Act had Mr. Dan Glickman say, “At this critical time for our economy, it’s important to send a message that the jobs created and maintained by the protection of intellectual property is a national priority.”
Public knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky who isn’t too happy with the act says, “Let's suppose that there's one computer in the house, and one person uses it for downloads and one for homework. The whole computer goes”. He was referring to the problem of having a law that provides absolute rights to the enforcer. He also argues that the bill is unnecessary at this juncture, because the recording and movie industry already have the rights to take the accused copyright infringers to court.
Via: TorrentFreak
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