[Infowarrior] - Idiotic Copyright QOTD

[Richard Forno]

The full interview with the guy in charge of the "US Copyright Group" can be found at:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20018004-261.html

Two choice answers from this fellow, whom I shall refer to now as Sir Twerpalot:

Q: "People at EFF have said that they think your IT team has flagged a lot of people who appear to be innocent. Can you tell us about what safeguards you have in place to ensure you aren't going after innocent people?"

A: "The people at the EFF, whomsoever they may be, also think there is a First Amendment right to remain anonymous when downloading copyrighted content. "

How is being anonymous while downloading copyrighted content (even "legitimately" paid-for stuff) any different than paying cash to buy a "legitimate" CD or DVD in the brick-n-mortar store or vendor?  Does Sir Twerpalot think that's unacceptable practice in the real world?  Has he ever paid cash for a newspaper, CD, book, or movie?   

... and then later....

Q: "Some people from the music industry told me that they don't think suing individuals can be profitable. They say the costs associated with their five-year litigation campaign were much too high. They suspect  that for you guys, once someone claims they are innocent and is prepared to fight all the way, similar to Jammie Thomas, it will eat up all your profits. Is that true? Can you share anything at all about your business model."

A: "We look at the film industry in a different light. Each film contains one to two hours of video content. The quantum of damages in a copyright case is, in part, tied to the content at issue and similarly to the conduct. Film content is significantly more dense and expensive to make than music content on a per film basis when compared to individual songs."

So because it takes longer to make a movie than record a song, or because a movie file is bigger than a song file, Sir Twerpalot assumes that means there MUST be increased penalties/damages?  Puh-lease.   

It's idiotic statements like this, facilitated by equally idiotic copyright laws requested by clueless and frightened industries, supported by purchased-and-equally-clueless politicians, that lead to lunatic statements or actions taken by twerps like this that are, and will continue to be, the bane of the modern Internet.  Again.  

My apologies to legitimate twerps for using that analogy.

-rick