US seeks to criminalize 'attempted' piracy

You don't even have to be good at it to see the inside of a Slammer

The US Department of Justice is proposing stiffer penalties for software copyright violators, such as the criminalization of "attempted" piracy and foregoing the necessity of patent registration before prosecution.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales submitted the "Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007" to the coalition against counterfeiting and piracy of the US Chamber of Commerce, Monday. The chamber is the largest business lobby group in the US, representing more than three million business groups.

"These crimes, as we all know, also have a direct impact on our economy, costing victims millions of dollars and, if left unchecked, diminishing entrepreneurship," Gonzales said.

The DoJ wants to create a new Federal offense for "attempting to commit" criminal copyright infringement.

"It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so," the proposal states.

In a press conference call today, a senior Justice Department official gave the example of finding a warehouse of DVDs but not being able to prove necessarily that they were actually distributed or sold. In this case, they would be able to charge those involved with attempted copyright infringement.

There appears to be nothing, however, concerning the breadth of such prosecution. Current law provides that a person cannot be held liable for copyright infringement until the copyright claim has been registered. The DoJ proposes this law is amended so the rule only applies to civil infringement and not criminal prosecutions.

"Registration is an administrative formality," the proposal states, "and although this formality has — and should have — certain consequences in civil cases, it should not in criminal cases."

US copyright law identifies criminal infringement as any person who infringes a copyright willfully for commercial or private financial gain, or distributes one or more copies of copyrighted works which have a retail value of more than $1,000.

The maximum penalty for counterfeiting offenses which endanger public health or safety would be increased to 10 to 20 years imprisonment if the defendant knowingly or recklessly attempts or causes serious bodily injury. A counterfeiter can be charged with life imprisonment if they knowingly attempt or cause death.

The department claims this change would be largely aimed at violations such as counterfeit pharmaceuticals — but who knows — anyone who has suffered through a pirated version of Spiderman 3 just might have a case.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/15/doj_proposes_toughter_copyright_laws/