* Should the FBI be recruited to help the entertainment industry's fight against file trading?
A House bill introduced June 19 could unleash FBI agents against alleged file traders.
The proposed legislation, HR-2517, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003, would direct the FBI to investigate and prosecute copyright violations. It would direct the FBI to develop a strategy to deter the online exchange of copyrighted material and create a warning, complete with FBI seal, that copyright holders could use to threaten suspected file traders.
The main sponsors of the bill are Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.). Berman was of course the sponsor of last year’s proposed legislation that would have permitted copyright holders to disrupt P2P networks that allegedly traded copyrighted materials.
This new bill goes much further, permitting the FBI to share with law enforcement, copyright owners and ISPs information on the suspected trading of copyrighted works. It also directs the Department of Justice to recruit agents who have received training in computer cracking and intellectual-property issues. Plus, it would require the Attorney General and the departments of Education and Commerce, to develop educational material on copyright issues.
Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, endorsed the Smith-Berman legislation. “This common sense, bipartisan bill will help ensure that federal prosecutors across the country have the resources and expertise to fully enforce the copyright laws on the books – especially against those who illegally distribute massive quantities of copyrighted music online,” Sherman said in a statement.
But the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has pointed out correctly that the bill blurs the distinction between prosecution of criminal acts and civil enforcement of copyright laws. EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer told reporters that getting the FBI involved could be used by copyright holders as a scare tactic to make people think that the government is hunting them down.
Seltzer added that the provision in the bill compelling ISPs to cooperate with police and copyright holders further violates the privacy of Internet users. She said it will place more pressure on ISPs to turn over the names of users to the RIAA, which is already pressuring service providers to reveal the names of alleged file traders.
Giving the FBI a license to break into the computers of alleged file traders or tamper with P2P networks is the ultimate nightmare scenario for this type of bill. The FBI should concentrate on helping to defend the U.S. government’s long vulnerable computer infrastructure, not meddling with copyright disputes as hired guns for the entertainment industry.
