14 Mar '07 - 229 W - + 6 - 4 Don't share your files: think of the children!
Absurd:
In today's Let's Be A Little Overdramatic file, a newly released report from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suggests that networked file and music sharing could harm children and threaten national security.
The November, 2006, report, entitled "Filesharing Programs and Technological Features to Induce Users to Share," makes two main points across the span of its 80 pages:
* that peer-to-peer networks could manipulate sites so children violate copyright laws more frequently than adults, exposing those children to copyright lawsuits and, in turn, make those who protect their copyrighted material appear antagonistic, and
* file-sharing software could be to blame for government workers who expose sensitive data and jeopardize national security after downloading free music on the job
Interestingly, the report makes numerous references to RIAA and MPAA legal actions against file actions, as well as cites a 2005 Department of Homeland Security report that government workers had installed file-sharing programs that accessed classified information without their knowledge.
I bet downloading stuff gives you cancer too. Seriously though, while downloading everything willy-nilly is not a solution, neither is having draconian DRM policies as the big IP corporations tend to push. There'll never be a real dialogue to solve this issue as long as you have official sources (e.g. the government) spouting this kind of nonsense. Pretty reminiscent of the "war on drugs"...