All in one headline


Who knew that free music downloads could harm children AND threaten national security?
Wow.

I think the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office went just a tad overboard. Notice the use of the word "could," I have emphasized that to make it easier to spot.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office claims that file-sharing sites could be setting up children for copyright infringement lawsuits and compromising national security.

"A decade ago, the idea that copyright infringement could become a threat to national security would have seemed implausible," Patent and Trademark Director Jon Dudas said in a report released this week. "Now, it's a sad reality."

The report, which the patent office recently forwarded to the U.S. Department of Justice, states that peer-to-peer networks could manipulate sites so children violate copyright laws more frequently than adults. That could make children the target in most copyright lawsuits and, in turn, make those protecting their material appear antagonistic, according to the report.

File-sharing software also could be to blame for government workers who expose sensitive data and jeopardize national security after downloading free music on the job, the report states.

So they aren't actually saying it has happened or how often it has happened, just that it could happen.

Good to know that they aren't overreacting or anything, isn't it?

Music sharing = harm children and threaten national security. That's a double. If they had thrown in the War On Drugs and attacked illegal immigration, it could have been a home run.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - March 16, 2007 at 04:52 AM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved