Nice to see US Attorney General John Ashcroft is busy addressing our most pressing legal needs: protecting Hollywood.<\/p>\n
Ashcroft declares “most aggressive assault” on piracy in US history<\/b>
\n
At a press conference in Los Angeles today, Atttorney General John Ashcroft announced an expansion of Department of Justice powers to combat intellectual property theft. Some say the approach appears to be modeled after the war on drugs.
\nThe U.S. Justice Department recommended a sweeping transformation of the nation’s intellectual property laws, saying peer-to-peer piracy is a “widespread” problem that can be addressed only through more spending, more FBI agents and more power for prosecutors. <\/p>\n\nIn an extensive report released Tuesday, senior department officials endorsed a pair of controversial copyright bills strongly favored by the entertainment industry that would criminalize “passive sharing” on file-swapping networks and permit lawsuits against companies that sell products that “induce” copyright infringement.
\nLink<\/a> to Declan’s News.com story, Link<\/a> to DoJ press release, Link<\/a> to the lengthy report issued today by the DoJ’s Task Force on Intellectual Property (PDF). More coverage at the LA Times<\/em>: Link 1<\/a>, Link 2<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n