Leahy and Specter said they were concerned that the agreement was being drafted in such detail that it could limit congressional flexibility to deal with intellectual property and related issues in the future.

said by agentx123 :

listen they cant stop over seas so who really cares..

said by OverModded :

The treaty is WITH countries overseas. The whole point of the treaty is to stop it overseas.

What [copyright] 'law' is trying to do is make it 'harder' for the average customer to get information.

Damn, until mickey came along, NO-ONE in the history of the world had 'copyrights'. Ideas were shared with whomever wanted to share them, and the WORLD advanced because of it. It's only since the greed of capitalism have we tried to put an artificial scarcity on the products have we seen this become a problem.

And pray tell me, why exactly SHOULD [other countries] respect copyright?

said by funchords :

Because we are a global community, and most of the globe has recognized copyright as a way to create and support the industry of creating entertainment and dispensing information.

said by OverModded :

But KarlMarx's communist philosophy is that "the people" own everything and individuals own nothing.

said by funchords :

The terms are ridiculously long, that much I'm convinced about. I think the lyrics to "Happy Birthday" are finally getting close to expiring copyright.

said by OverModded :

But KarlMarx's communist philosophy is that "the people" own everything and individuals own nothing.

said by OverModded :

But KarlMarx's communist philosophy is that "the people" own everything and individuals own nothing.

said by kamm :

BTW this common false-iditic belief about Marxism is very virulent here, in the USA, where people are gravely ill-educated about these things, thanks to the craptastic quality of firs- and second-level US education, especially compared to their Asian or European countrerparts.

said by kamm :

This is utter BS, simply dead FALSE.

BTW this common false-iditic belief about Marxism is very virulent here, in the USA, where people are gravely ill-educated about these things, thanks to the craptastic quality of firs- and second-level US education, especially compared to their Asian or European countrerparts.

said by funchords :

The original copyright was 14 years + an additional 14 year term possible. That was before there were highways, let alone an Internet. It doesn't take as much time to market something today, so the terms should be shorter, not longer.

said by TheMG :

It's just like record companies holding onto and selling works of deceased artists. That is one thing I will NEVER support, as obviously none of the money is going to the artist it's just going to the cash grabbing corporations.

said by OverModded :

But it is often still going to the artist's family if they or the artist hasn't sold the rights.

said by funchords :

What copyright and patent law try to do is make it financially easier for the artists and inventors to release information.

Damn, until mickey came along, NO-ONE in the history of the world had 'copyrights'. Ideas were shared with whomever wanted to share them, and the WORLD advanced because of it. It's only since the greed of capitalism have we tried to put an artificial scarcity on the products have we seen this become a problem.

said by funchords :

This clearly isn't true, since the concept is mentioned in the Constitution and Congress established copyright law more than a century before Mickey came along.

said by funchords :

The last time I looked at Wikipedia's entry on copyright (both the general one and the one specific to the USA), it was fairly well done.

said by funchords :

Because we are a global community, and most of the globe has recognized copyright as a way to create and support the industry of creating entertainment and dispensing information.

said by major marco :

Wrong on both counts. What copyright and patent law were originally set up to do -as promulgated in the Constitution itself was to ensure the balance between individual profit vs the ability to copy and otherwise influence culture. That's why the original copyright wasn't set for the life of the creator.

Copyright is in fact mentioned in the Constitution, however, the Disney Corporation brought the issue of copyright front & center when it copyrighted the famous mouse and prevented others from copying it. Historically, it was behemoth movie corporations (like Disney) that expanded westward to California before it became a State to avoid copyright laws. (Read your history on this count - "Free Culture" (incidentally, a FREE download) by Lessig details this mindblowing hypocrisy exhibited by the movie studios back to the early 1900s.)

LMAO - You're relying on Wiki. Really? LMAO. The last time I checked, any entry on Wiki was to be taken with an entire salt shaker and then the facts checked from real sources who have confirmed the information.

The "global community" also recognizes the vast discrepancy between locking down rights for the life of the creator plus 70 yrs and its detrimental effects on culture. That's why the U.S. is the only country in the world with draconian copyright laws/DRM and other nasties meant to lock down technology. These other countries negotiating secret treaties undeer cover of night behind locked doors represent a tiny minority in all likelihood bought off by the *AAs. Just because a country's government espouses XYZ policy, does not mean the culture as a whole embraces it. Case in point: TPB.

Just because a country's government espouses XYZ policy, does not mean the culture as a whole embraces it. Case in point: TPB.

said by OverModded :

The treaty is WITH countries overseas. The whole point of the treaty is to stop it overseas.

said by Kearnstd :

Copyright law as it exists today works against our economy and the people of this nation. there is zero reason that any copyright should last longer then 25 years from the date the content was created. drug companies have a certain number of years before their patents wear out, and then it goes public. entertainment shouldnt be any different.

said by quatrix :

Can we stop pretending that these things weren't done mainly for illicit reasons?

said by quatrix :

Can we stop pretending that these things weren't done mainly for illicit reasons?

said by Simba7 :

If you want your connection to be "improbable" secure (ssh into servers/workstations), use Tor. Talk about a PITA to trace and reconstruct unless you're DAMN good.'s impossible.

said by Palmar :

The number one supporter of the
RIAA on capital hill is Joseph Biden.

said by Palmar :

The number one supporter of the
RIAA on capital hill is Joseph Biden.

Obama is the MPAA favored candidate.

Change is coming.

said by Simba7 :

I guess having privacy on the internet is BAD. So bad in fact that they're actually putting into law that if you use a secure connection that can't be spied upon, that you MUST be doing illicit things and they must arrest you, fine you, throw you in prison, or all the above.

Might as well shred the Constitution and the Bill of Rights now and get it over with. Within a few years, we'll be just like China.

said by Blackened :

One thing true communist nations tend to have trouble with is authoritarians.

However, what we have in common with them are rights are almost never protected anymore. In communism, it's for the state, in today's America, it's for the business.

Maybe soon we'll be singing the pledge of allegiance to the RIAA.

It's cases like this that I hope piracy wins.

said by kamm :

It's corporatism and it's nowhere better than Communism - in fact one could argue it's worse than Communism in many ways.