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I believe this could be breaking the law but it is missing the criminal intent<G>
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Technology News
Tue, 16 Dec 1997, 8:06pm EST
BN 12/16 Clinton Signs U.S. Internet Copyright Protection Measure
Clinton Signs U.S. Internet Copyright Protection Measure
Washington, Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Bill
Clinton signed legislation today that would allow for punishment
of people who post copyrighted works on the Internet even if they
don't make money off the site.
The measure extends copyright law to permit prosecution of
individuals who ''with criminal intent'' seek to infringe on
others' copyrights, whether or not they make money off the
posting, said bill sponsor Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia
Republican.
The bill doesn't alter the ''fair use'' doctrine of
copyright law, Goodlatte said. Clinton signed the bill, which has
been heavily criticized by academic groups, without comment.
Recording and publishing industry leaders had urged Clinton
to sign the measure. It ''will help us better protect our
intellectual property,'' they wrote in a letter to Clinton, and
''promote dissemination of creative works on-line.''
The software industry estimates it loses more than $11.2
billion a year to software theft and piracy, not counting
hundreds of web sites that permit anyone with Internet
access to download programs for free, said Business Software
Alliance spokeswoman Diane Smiroldo.
''Any time in the day or night you can find whatever you
need'' for free on the Internet, said Novell Inc. anti-piracy
group spokesman Ron Barker.
Novell reported last year that software theft cost the
company $45 million, Barker said.
Much of the software theft comes from ''Warez'' sites,
Smiroldo said, which specialize in putting computer games, songs
and videos on the Internet to download for free -- or sometimes
for a fee made payable to a different web address.
''Every new electronic frontier comes with some pitfalls,''
said Smiroldo. ''Right now there are hundreds of thousands
of copyrighted items on the Internet.''
--Tara Copp in the Washington newsroom (202)624-1820/tre /rdm/ge
c Copyright 1997, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.
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