Jari Ketola
30 Jun 2004 13:49
The U.S. Senate has passed the PIRATE Act bill, which raised several concerns when it was proposed. The Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation (PIRATE) Act of 2004 allows the Department of Justice to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright pirates. Up until now the copyright holders have had to file the lawsuits themselves.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and many others, see the PIRATE bill as a lobbying victory of the recording industry, whose only purpose is to make the taxpayers fund their quest against P2P piracy. P2P United executive director Adam Eisgrau said that "The recording industry needs to find a way to turn the 60 million U.S. residents who have used file-sharing software into customers, instead of regarding them as criminals."
The bill still has to be passed by the House and signed by President George Bush to become a law. It was introduced in March, and moved to the Senate floor without a hearing.
Source: ITworld.com