There has mostly been talk thus far and little action, but the Department of Justice says it may be ready tofile criminal lawsuits against individualswho distribute or receive unauthorized copyrighted material over the Internet. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm believes that “criminal prosecutions of copyright offenders are now necessary to preserve the viability of America’s content industries.” Malcolm also believes that people who trade copyrighted material think they are participating in a legal activity. I certainly think people who download copyrighted works understand that such distribution–barring provisions such as fair use–is not authorized, and it is not surprising to see businesses continue to look for means to discourage distribution of copyrighted works.
“Some prosecutions that make that clear could be very helpful…I think they would think twice if they thought there was a risk of criminal prosecution,” said [RIAA President Cary] Sherman, who was on the same conference panel.
I’m not too confident that lawsuits would have the effect Sherman is hoping for. Although infrequent, there have already been civil suits or warnings issued to private individuals, and they have served as minor deterrents to the file-sharing community at large. Criminal lawsuits carrying with them the possibility of prison sentences may generate further animosity against groups such as the RIAA and may be difficult to initiate because of the “schooling” effect of millions of systems participating in file sharing. Only servers would seem to stand out from the crowd.
The article cites theNo Electronic Theft (NET) Act, which defines illegal activity and maximum penalties for copyright infringement:
