Re: Verdict: The Pirate Bay Guilty

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Andy Oram <andyo () oreilly com>
Date: April 17, 2009 9:17:46 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Verdict: The Pirate Bay Guilty

Up until 1997, copyright infringement in the US was a civil matter. If  
you hurt me in some way, I can sue you; it doesn't have to be a  
criminal act. That view was applied implicitly to copyright  
infringement. If someone abuses your copyright, you sue.

It's a different matter when something is a crime: now the government  
is forced to police the territory and expend precious resources  
enforcing the law. I reported on this change in the US in a 1998  
article (I don't know the history in Europe):

 http://www.praxagora.com/andyo/ar/copyright_theft.html
 The Gifts That Keep On Giving--Copyright Revenues

I do believe that massive unauthorized sharing of copyrighted material  
is a crime. But we drug runners murdering people in the streets,  
thousands of workers being cheated out of wages by scufflaw employers,  
and all kinds of serious crimes that really threaten lives. It's not  
in the public interest to turn copyright infringement from a civil  
offense to a criminal one. And it leads to violations of privacy and  
civil liberties in ever-more desperate attempts to enforce laws.

Andy




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