Apparently they got the message about us not liking their vigilante justice schemes, so they’re trying a different tack. A number of congressmen have written a letter to Ashcroft (PDF) saying that “individuals who [.…] allow mass copying” should be prosecuted and that “Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIPs) units” should be set up “around the country with expanded authority”. Under the “No Electronic Theft (NET) Act” such users are arguably felons.
The congressmen responsible: Joseph Biden, Lamar Smith, James Sensenbrenner, Robert C. Scott, John Conyers, Jr., Howard Coble, Dianne Feinstein, Henry Hyde, Rick Santorum, Gordon Smith, Robert Wexler, William L. Jenkins, Ed Bryant, Lindsey O. Graham, Adam B. Schiff, Ric Keller, Darrell Issa, Melissa Hart. See your representative? Might want to have a stern word with them.
posted August 10, 2002 11:02 PM (Technology) #