RE: DOJ is prepared to begin prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates

["Peter Picerno" <ppicerno@nova.edu>]

I'll bite further on the legalese aspect: "if the value of the work exceeds
$1,000." What value? The market price value (i.e., the price of the item on
the retail market), the value of the item as a 'work of art' (i.e., like a
painting which has an insured value), or the value of the work to its
creator (which could be argued to be in the millions), or the value of the
work as a royalty-generating item (good luck figuring this one out!)????

Peter Picerno

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 5:46 AM
To: 'liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu'
Subject: RE: DOJ is prepared to begin prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates

Greetings,

It is a "...federal crime to share copies of copyrighted products such as
software, movies or music with anyone, even friends or family members, if
the value of the work exceeds $1,000."

Ok, I'll bite.  Since Clinton signed the bill, in my best Clintonesque
manner, how is the word WORK defined?  Is that the actual language of the
law?  Can "work" be defined as one song from a CD or record, in which case
it could be argued that you divide the total number of songs in the price
of the CD to get the value of that one "work"?

Just looking for clarity.

Jack Smith
jsmith@uab.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Hamaker, Chuck [mailto:cahamake@email.uncc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 6:55 AM
To: Liblicense-L (E-mail)
Subject: DOJ is prepared to begin prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates

DOJ to swappers: Law's not on your side
By Declan McCullagh  <mailto:declan.mccullagh@cnet.com>
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
August 20, 2002, 2:27 PM PT

ASPEN, Colo.--The U.S. Department of Justice is prepared to begin
prosecuting peer-to-peer pirates, a top government official said on
Tuesday.

John Malcolm, a deputy assistant attorney general, said Americans should
realize that swapping illicit copies of music and movies is a criminal
offense that can result in lengthy prison terms.  "A lot of people think
these activities are legal, and they think they ought to be legal,"
Malcolm told an audience at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's
<http://www.pff.org/> annual technology and politics summit.

snip

In an interview, Malcolm would not say when prosecutions would begin. The
response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks temporarily diverted the
department's resources and prevented its attorneys from focusing on this
earlier, he said.  snip Under the NET Act, signed by President Clinton in
1997, it is a federal crime to share copies of copyrighted products such
as software, movies or music with anyone, even friends or family members,
if the value of the work exceeds $1,000. Violations are punishable
<http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2319.html> by one year in prison,
or if the value tops $2,500, "not more than five years" in prison.

selected from digital-copyright Digest 21 Aug 2002 15:00:01 -0000 Issue 55