College students may soon feel pressure from more than
the recording industry to stop illegal file sharing as
Congress considers two bills that would extend the federal
government’s authority to prosecute copyright violators.
The proposed Piracy Deterrence and Educational Act of 2004, is
the pairing of two bills, one now in the Senate, which would allow
the Justice Department to bring civil charges against illegal file
sharers. Under current law, the attorney general can only file
criminal copyright charges against illegal file sharers, which
require a high standard of proof.
The Piracy Act would allow the federal government to file claims
that could include damages and restitution without criminal
penalties.
The bill in the House, provides for educational programs about
copyright violations and would also lower the standard required to
prove copyright violators guilty of criminal crimes.
Under the act, criminal infringement can be defined as copyright
violations by distributing copyrighted work with “reckless
disregard of the risk for further infringement.” Reckless
disregard can be proven if more than $10,000 worth of copyrighted
material is shared, 1,000 copies of one or more copyrighted works
are made, or if copyrighted pre-release works are
distributed.
Currently prosecutors have to show that suspects acted
“willfully” by intending to profit from their actions
despite knowing their conduct is illegal.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, co-sponsored the bill. Leahy said
the Piracy Act is just one step in solving the challenges presented
by the digital age, which includes protecting intellectual property
while not impeding the development of technology and digital
content.
Leahy added that the bill allows the government to take action
“to ensure that more creative works are made available
online, that those works are more affordable, and that the people
who work to bring them to us are paid for their efforts.”
While the recording industry has offered support for the bills,
opponents have expressed concerns regarding funding for the
anti-piracy effort. Under the Piracy Act, the Justice Department
would get $2 million to handle copyright infringement cases.
“Tax dollars will go to protect an industry that already
has a great deal of money,” said Annalee Newitz, policy
analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that
educates the public about civil liberties issues related to
technology.
Newitz said consumers who are already having difficulties making
personal copies of music or playing DVDs on their personal
computers will end up paying for the copyright lawsuits.
“Taxpayers will have to pay for their own torture,”
she said.
Some students seem to think the bills will not have a large
effect on file sharing.
Xiu Fang Lou, a first-year undeclared student who stopped
downloading songs when the record industry started to sue copyright
violators, said though the bill’s intentions are good, they
do not address the fundamental reason why students download files
illegally.
“(The Piracy Act)Â is actually a pretty good idea
because singers will not earn any money if everyone downloads and
no one buys the CD. But at the same time, the reason why people
download is because CDs are too expensive,” Lou said.
Second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics
student Joyce Wu, who said she does not download music illegally,
also said she thinks the bills would probably not stop people
from continuing to download illegally.
“It’s pretty hard to enforce. I’m pretty sure
they don’t have enough money to prosecute every teenager. The
people who aren’t afraid of being sued (by the Recording
Industry Association of America) will probably not be afraid of
being sued by the government,” Wu said.