Congressman Wants to Let Entertainment Industry Get Into Your Computer

[oracle]

Congressman Wants to Let Entertainment Industry Get Into Your Computer (http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,58786,00.html)

WASHINGTON — A proposal by a California congressman would give the entertainment industry broad new powers to try to stop people from downloading pirated music and movies off the Internet.

Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., formally proposed legislation that would give the industry unprecedented new authority to secretly hack into consumers' computers or knock them off-line entirely if they are caught downloading copyrighted material.

"There is no excuse or justification for this piracy," said Berman, the leading recipient in the House of campaign contributions from the television, music and movie industries. "Theft is theft, whether it is shoplifting a CD in a record store or illegally downloading a song."

Berman is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary subcommittee on courts, the Internet and intellectual property. Other sponsors of the measure include Reps. Howard Coble, R-N.C., Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Robert Wexler, D-Fla. Coble has also received significant contributions from the entertainment industry.

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Click here to read more (http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,58786,00.html)

[Rink]

The problemn with this is that this gives these big companies the right to just arbitrarily say 'thus-and-such' has our copywrighted materials and we hacked and destroyed their database, computers et all to stop the fraud.

They are not bound to prove anything, all they need is just a 'suspicion' and thats it.

This in some respects violates the Constitution on the grounds of unwarranted search and seizure.

This bill needs to be scrapped, it will give these nasty big companies and even the govt too much of a license and leeway to trash peoples comps and possibly livelihoods on a flimsy 'suspicion'

I dont like this bill one bit, its going way too far, what about peoples right to share files? Wont be long EVERYTHING will be copywrighted and nobody will be able to touch, share or post anything for fear these toads will hack em in a malicious way.

Can we say 'Net War?'

If this passes its gonna get ugly fast!

[DesertFox]

Theft is theft

And trespassing is trespassing. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[Maggie_T]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>"Theft is theft, whether it is shoplifting a CD in a record store or illegally downloading a song," said Berman, the leading recipient in the House of campaign contributions from the television, music and movie industries.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Takes one to know one, Mr. Berman. Who better than the dems to know all about theft? They've been practicing it for years and years.

[JonECat]

Coming soon to a computer near you -- Hollywood Hackers.

Watch as they rifle through your files, dismantle your network, and delete all those songs and movies you can't prove have a legal right to exist on your hard drive. Hope the special effects don't include the accidental destruction of your data when your computer becomes a stunt double in Hollywood's latest blockbuster attempt to protect its copyrighted material.

California Congressman Howard Berman introduced his "Peer-to-Peer Piracy Prevention" Act in the House of Representatives Thursday. If the bill (PDF) passes, copyright owners could -- at least conceptually -- employ a variety of technological tools to prevent the illegal distribution of their copyrighted works over a P2P network such as Kazaa or LimeWire.

Security experts said the bill's wording is too vague and wonder exactly what sort of "technological tools" will be permitted. They also fear that approval of the bill could result in a multitude of clumsy and ill-conceived "hack" attacks that could have widespread, system-damaging effects on both file traders and those who have never downloaded a single song from a file-trading server.

web page (http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54153,00.html)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Violates due process, will be struck down.

Why do Congress people pander to such an extent that they support a law that won't stand the test of the constitution?

Why does the Hollywood industry allow a law to be supported that they know will be knocked down?

[Large_Al]

I know this is a tech question but would a firewall stop this form happening??


They will never take me alive!

[The_Finman]

I saw this coming a mile away. images/icons/rolleyes.gif

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR><h2>Attack disables music industry Web site</h2>
The Recording Industry Association of America's Web site was unreachable over the weekend due to a denial-of-service attack.

The apparently deliberate overload rendered the RIAA.org (Attack disables music industry Web site ) site unavailable for portions of four days and came after the group endorsed legislation to allow copyright holders to disrupt peer-to-peer networks.

asked the RIAA representative, who asked not to be identified.

Denial-of-service attacks overwhelm an Internet site by enlisting hundreds or thousands of other machines that attempt to make simultaneous connections.

On Thursday, the RIAA endorsed a bill written by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., that would authorize copyright holders to begin "blocking, diverting or otherwise impairing" peer-to-peer networks.

RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen said in a statement that Berman's bill was "an innovative approach," adding that "it makes sense to clarify existing laws to ensure that copyright owners--those who actually take the time and effort to create an artistic work--are at least able to defend their works from mass piracy."

A representative said it appears to have been the first time the group's site had been knocked offline.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's still offline...

Yes, these are just script kiddies and not real Hackers doing this, but I really don't think that the R.I.A.A. & M.P.A.A. has the first clue of who & what they are dealing with...if they do actually start breaking into peoples computers, it's only going to get worse...remember these are just amateur kids knocking them offline, eventually they are going to tangle with real hackers and simple D.o.S. attacks will be the absolute least of their worries.

I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's coming.

Oh, and to answer your question Large Al:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Large Al:
I know this is a tech question but would a firewall stop this form happening??
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Software firewalls are good for keeping the kiddies out...however seasoned hackers can "spoof" your IP and bypass just about any software firewall...hardware firwalls are much better, but they can also be defeated as well...the good thing is that the people actually capable of doing this are generally not only not interested in such things, they are strongly against it. That's why I say if the Record & Motion Picture Associations actually starts breaking into computers...all hell is going to break loose.

You might want to read my post in the Techi Zone titled What Exactly is a Hacker? (http://208.185.249.64/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=19&t=000128)