[free-sklyarov] Congress doubling number of DMCA, copyright federal police

[Declan McCullagh]

Just think of it: $6 million more for investigations and prosecutions,
plus $4 million for better computers. The DMCA is a budget growth
opportunity for the FBI and DOJ, don't ya think?

-Declan


http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45608,00.html

   Congress Covets Copyright Cops
   By Declan McCullagh (declan at wired.com)
   2:00 a.m. July 28, 2001 PDT
   
   WASHINGTON -- If you've ever contemplated violating the Digital
   Millennium Copyright Act, be warned: Congress is set to more than
   double the number of federal copyright cops.
   
   A draft of next year's budget includes plans to hire far more Justice
   Department attorneys and FBI agents who are charged with placing more
   pirates in prison.
   
   This comes one week after Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke in
   Mountain View, California, about the threat of online piracy. In the
   same week, geek protesters demanded the release of Dmitry Sklyarov, a
   Russian programmer arrested on felony copyright charges.
   
   That's exactly what should be happening, according to a Senate
   committee report. In an apparent reference to the prosecution, it
   says: "The committee is aware that the FBI has launched an initiative
   to investigate violations of federal copyright laws protecting certain
   marketed software applications. The committee supports FBI efforts..."
   
   The Senate has earmarked $10 million for copyright prosecutions,
   enough money for 155 agents and attorneys in the fiscal year starting
   in October. That's up from a current $4 million allocated for 75
   positions.
   
   Copyright holders, who applauded the prosecution of Sklyarov on
   charges of violating the controversial DMCA, said they hoped the
   additional cash will put more DMCA pirates and copyright thieves
   behind bars.

   [...]



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


----- End forwarded message -----

----- End forwarded message -----