Leave it to thick walleted lobbyists to extremely skew the punishment system in the USA.
Here is the reprint from Techdirt (http://techdirt.com/articles/20060426/1012207.shtml)
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Stick To Downloading Child Porn, Not Movies, If You Want Short Jail Sentences
from the misplaced-priorities-much? dept
We mentioned recently that politicians are looking to expand the DMCA, hoping to crack down on the possession of any tool that would help to circumvent DRM. As if this weren't draconian enough, some have noticed sentencing guidelines contained in the law that seem really out of synch with other federal statutes. The bill's new revisions would allow for 10-year sentences for music and software piracy. This is longer than the five years one can get for assaulting a police officer, and the seven years for downloading child pornography. This seems like misplaced priorities, and poor use of the government's criminal justice resources. This is particularly strange, in light of the fact that The Justice Department is stepping up their fight against child porn. This includes new measures that would create more liability for ISPs, among others (nevermind that such liability is misplaced, since the ISPs aren't actually the ones engaging in criminal behavior). Still, any law that would make piracy a more severe crime than child porn is an indication that the government has completely lost its priorities, and is totally at the whim of its industry donors.
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Does this seem out of whack to anyone besides me?
I completely agree. They don't have their priorities in order! Whoever would place the value of a 2-4 min song higher then the innocence of a child is sick. I wish there was a way to eradicate coruption in our government...
QuoteHoshiko wrote:
...I wish there was a way to eradicate coruption in our government...
there is. It's by eradicating the government.
I try to understand as best as I can what the recording industry is doing. They're trying to protect their business model. They have a lot to lose. If I were in their shoes I would fight progress too.
The problem to me comes in when they try to put laws in place to prevent or at least cripple innovation simply to protect their assets. New technology will come, and you can either embrace it, or get left behind. I fear the latter for them.
Here's a joke.
Why did the air conditioner sue the cool side of the pillow? Because it jeopardized its business model.