AG Gonzalez Wants to Make Sure You Know Who's Boss

Today, recently chastised Attorney General Gonzalez introduced a new intellectual property legislation. The proposal as it was forwarded to Speaker Pelosi is here. The most worrying provisions include:

• Criminalizing attempted copyright infringement. In what the Wall Street Journal sister-site is equating with Orwellian "thought crime", you could face 10 years in prison for not actually infringing copyright. Who is harmed if you are forced to buy the DVD because your illegal download fails?
• Provide for forfeiture and seizure of personal property used for copyright infringement. Say good bye to your Mac. And your iPod. And your work PC. And definitely your camera. You know what, I doubt your library computer will even last very long...
• Expand the FBI's ability to wire-tap and spy on Americans who may be infringing copyright. I understand the need for protection of lives and how that may mean certain, measured curtailment of liberties for temporary periods, but the tenable threat to economic growth is by no means worthy of such a gross invasion of privacy.
• Require the Department of Homeland Security to work for the RIAA by alerting them to cross-border infringement. Do I need to convince you this is a bad idea?

More on this soon...