Under House Bill the Feds May Take Your Computer
December 11, 2007 – 6:00 amA new bill in Congress would drastically increase the civil and criminal penalties for copyright violations. H.R. 4279 would also create a new intellectual property division within the Justice Department. The proposed law would allow the Justice Department to seize and auction off any computer or network hardware used to facilitate a copyright crime.
What is significant about the legislation is that there is no distinction between large-scale commercial video or software pirates and the home user. Seizing the assets of a commercial piracy ring is one thing, but seizing the family computer because your teenager posts an MP3 on a peer-to-peer network or downloads a movie is something else entirely. According to PCmag.com, a spokeswoman for the Judiciary Committee said she was looking into whether the law “would allow authorities to seize a family’s computer in a download case.” Good idea, you should look into that.
Is every file, program, MP3, movie, and video clip on your computer properly licensed? Do you even know? If not, and this bill becomes law, your computer would be subject to confiscation by the federal government.
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