JeffKirvin.net

Wired News: Senate May Ram Copyright Bill: “The Senate might vote on the Intellectual Property Protection Act, a comprehensive bill that opponents charge could make many users of peer-to-peer networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for copyright infringement. The bill would also undo centuries of ‘fair use’ — the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works of others without having to ask permission or pay.

The bill lumps together several pending copyright bills including HR4077, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act, which would criminally punish a person who ‘infringes a copyright by … offering for distribution to the public by electronic means, with reckless disregard of the risk of further infringement.’ Critics charge the vague language could apply to a person who uses the popular Apple iTunes music-sharing application.

The bill would also permit people to use technology to skip objectionable content — like a gory or sexually explicit scene — in films, a right that consumers already have. However, under the proposed law, skipping any commercials or promotional announcements would be prohibited. The proposed law also includes language from the Pirate Act (S2237), which would permit the Justice Department to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers.

Also under the proposed law, people who bring a video camera into a movie theater to make a copy of the film for distribution would be imprisoned for three years, fined or both.”

Okay, the file-sharing crap is bad, the draconian punishment for bootlegging is overboard, but…

They’re going to make it illegal to skip commercials? Am I reading this right? When did this happen?

You know, if I don’t get a job soon, I may just have to pack up and move to Canada anyway.