Another strong indication that executives and legislators are actually becoming insane whenever copyright issues are discussed.
Nineteen of the most senior members of Congress sent a letter urging Attorney General John Ashcroft “to prosecute individuals who intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks.” Here’s a copy of the letter itself. There is a little-known law that can be interpreted to permit criminal prosecutions of file sharing.
These legislators – including our dear Senator Feinstein – want the federal government to put people using file sharing programs in federal prison.
That’s you. And you. And especially you. That’s 140 million downloads of file sharing software, and two million people using the file sharing programs at any particular time. You’re federal felons and our senator signed a letter encouraging the Attorney General to put you in jail.
And they sent it to John Ashcroft – who’s earning a special place in my heart as one of the most terrifying people to hold public office in my lifetime.
It’s madness.
Support the work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations resisting this craziness.
