The United States now has a Czar, for IP
On October 13, President Bush signed a highly controversial anti-piracy law. The dictator President has put into effect a law that will appoint an intellectual property czar (yeah folks, you heard it right) that will report directly to the President (again, you heard that right) on how to keep hax0rz from illegally obtaining copyrighted materials. The targets are primarily music, movies, and TV, but you can bet this will be leaking over to other stuff with copyrights. The bill was, of course, backed by none other than the RIAA and MPAA (our favorite institutions!). Say good-bye to the phrase “DRM Free” everyone. Apparently, counterfeiting and piracy costs the U.S. $250 billion annually… that’s a lotta billions for free tunes and movies. Any devices used in piracy may have to be forfeited to Big Brother, lest “firemen” come into your house and burn down your gadgets Fahrenheit 450 style.
Tags: Bush, czar, DRM, intellectual property, MPAA, music, piracy, president, RIAA
It’s Fahrenheit 451!
lmao.
Permalink | Reply
I keep sayin it but nobody listens. Mitch Bainwol is f*cking Karl Rove and the rest of the GOP. Seriously. I’m shocked no one has come out with the You Tube of it by now.
Permalink | Reply
You idiots. Flame on Bush or the GOP all you want, its the Democrats that run Congress that did this to you. When are you flaming liberals gonna get it through you pea brains that Presidents don’t get to make laws, Congress does. The Bush administration stated it did not want this “czar”.
Permalink | Reply
Hyperbole.
Best. Thing. Evar.
Permalink | Reply
David,
What’s the deomcrats percentage? Enough to over rule the decision of the other party? Go Mavericks!
Permalink | Reply
I’m sorry, but what we have here is a good old fashioned bipartisan rights fucking!
Secondly, On behalf of Firefighters everywhere, paid and volly: If we ever got an order like that, We’d burn down the RIAA and MPAA and then hold an axe to a Supreme justice’s neck until it gets repealed as unconstitutional.
Permalink | Reply
Does this really mean DRM-free? As in Amazon, eMusic, and others would have to add DRM now?
Permalink | Reply
Sorry–meant no DRM-free.
Permalink | Reply
News Flash: If you can’t afford to loose it DON’T PUT IT ON THE INTERNET!
Permalink | Reply
I come here to get good info on technology and gadgets. If I wanted liberal screeds (and I don’t), I’d go read the flametard blogs. Stick to reporting on the technology business, or I’ll drop BGR from my RSS.
Permalink | Reply
It’s painfully apparent that the person who wrote this, never actually saw Fahrenheit 451! Duh!
Permalink | Reply
Close Observer shut up. If you do not think RIAA and MPAA news is technology related or has nothing to do with this site then you shouldn’t bother coming here at all, drop it from your RSS and make us all happy.
David whatever laws Congress makes cannot pass without that dictator ratifying it so in essence it is his fault. Plus, I highly doubt this was a Democratic backed law. F BUSH!
Permalink | Reply
@Likeabite
I couldn’t have said it better, in both cases.
Permalink | Reply
@ Aaron - LMAO, they never saw it, have you ever read it?
Permalink | Reply
This isn’t just Republitards, this isn’t just Democunts. So shove that partisan bullshit right up your fucking asses. This is politicians, bought and paid for, regardless of party affiliation (and if you think there’s a real difference between the parties, you haven’t been paying much attention).
Oh, and A Close Observer: If you don’t think that information regarding the ever-increasing influence of the RIAA and the MPAA on our politicians is relevant in a technology environment, do us a favor and remove BGR from your RSS feed. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t be reading about tech at all; your lack of understanding is painful and almost sad.
Permalink | Reply
@Aaron
You’re right, I never saw Fahrenheit 451… I read the book way back in high school. My reference was to the totalitarian control in the book where “firemen” went out to burn books. Here my reference was a joke where firemen would come and burn your gadgets if it contained pirated material. Duh.
Permalink | Reply
This sucks and all, but the term “czar” is used throughout the US government. That term isn’t particularly earth shattering if you’ve ever read a newspaper.
Permalink | Reply
Wow? Clinton got the DMCA and now Bush gets IP Czar crap. So is there really a difference between dems and repubs? Nope!
Permalink | Reply
Vote Obama and we all will be screwed.
Congress can over ride any veto the president does. The Czar would be a democratic position.
Permalink | Reply
Looking this stuff up really isn’t hard.
The bill was authored in the Senate by Patrick Leahy, a Democrat. There were 21 co-sponsors. I don’t pretend to know them all, but I recognized a few Democrats, like Hillary, Boxer, Feinstein, and Shumer; I’m sure there’s a Republican or two in the brew.
It passed the Senate on unanimous consent, i.e., no dissent. In the House there were only 41 votes against.
So, yes, it was a Democrat measure.
It passed with an overwhelming and bipartisan vote.
It was veto-proof, the votes for passage being far more than the simple two-thirds needed to override a presidential veto.
Permalink | Reply
w/e
this new legislation is only a speed bump
Permalink | Reply
What people need to realize and what sets Americians apart from the rest of the world is the freedom of its people. Congress is the voice of the people. Just remember, these congressmen and congresswomen were placed there by our choice. When it is time for re-election, currently Nov 4th 2008, you have the right to vote them out of office. Once new congress people are placed, a new bill can be reintroduced to remove this “czar” and then place into law that “there shall be no governing body in place to limit or prohibit the freedom of speech or practice of ‘free’ enterprise”. It might work, so remember to get out and vote in 21 days.
Permalink | Reply
Yeah it sucks for everyone who steals their music, movies, etc., to have something like this pass. But its stealing isn’t it? And anybody who steals is punishable by law, assuming they get caught, right? Given that figure of how much money is being lost, I see good reason why this was passed.
As far as the political bullshit on this website goes, let go of your libral bias for 5 seconds Boy Genius and write about something without letting us know how much you hate our president. Frankly, I’m surprised you don’t see that the entire left are the true czar’s out there. After all, they find it necessary to get their hands involved in everything they can.
Permalink | Reply
Haha great article… But umm, call me an idiot if I’m wrong, but stealing is still bad right? I mean I think the RIAA and MPAA are pretty extreme, but I set my car alarm everytime I get out of my car. And if you steal my car, I’m gonna do my best to find you and prosecute you… So why is (no) drm-free so bad?
Permalink | Reply