[ISN] FC: Draft of Rep. Berman's bill authorizes anti-P2P hacking

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Wed Jul 24 2002 - 03:44:27 PDT

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    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 20:29:35 -0400
    From: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private>
    To: politechat_private
    Subject: FC: Draft of Rep. Berman's bill authorizes anti-P2P hacking
    
    
    
    http://news.com.com/2100-1023-945923.html?tag=politech
    
       Could Hollywood hack your PC?
       By Declan McCullagh
       July 23, 2002, 4:45 PM PT
    
       WASHINGTON--Congress is about to consider an entertainment
       industry proposal that would authorize copyright holders to disable
       PCs used for illicit file trading.
    
       A draft bill seen by CNET News.com marks the boldest political effort
       to date by record labels and movie studios to disrupt peer-to-peer
       networks that they view as an increasingly dire threat to their bottom
       line.
    
       Sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C.,
       the measure would permit copyright holders to perform nearly unchecked
       electronic hacking if they have a "reasonable basis" to believe that
       piracy is taking place. Berman and Coble plan to introduce the 10-page
       bill this week.
    
       The legislation would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture
       Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of
       America from all state and federal laws if they disable, block or
       otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer network."
    
       Anyone whose computer was damaged in the process must receive the
       permission of the U.S. attorney general before filing a lawsuit, and a
       suit could be filed only if the actual monetary loss was more than
       $250.
    
       According to the draft, the attorney general must be given complete
       details about the "specific technologies the copyright holder intends
       to use to impair" the normal operation of the peer-to-peer network.
       Those details would remain secret and would not be divulged to the
       public.
    
       The draft bill doesn't specify what techniques, such as viruses,
       worms, denial-of-service attacks, or domain name hijacking, would be
       permissible. It does say that a copyright-hacker should not delete
       files, but it limits the right of anyone subject to an intrusion to
       sue if files are accidentally erased.
    
       [...]
    
    
    
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