New legislation is now in Congress concerning intellectual property. PRO-IP which is an acronym for "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property", may substantially reshape copyright and how the rights of creators are fought for, along with possibly changing how the public gets its information.
Behind this legislation is the aim to crack down on infringement of works copyrighted and otherwise to aid in the following:
1. Stricter penalties for criminal and civil infringement.
2. Elimination of registration requirement to pursue criminal penalties.
3. Create an independent branch of government from the
White House with more authority to go after offenders.
I am including a link below to the full story. I think it is in every ones interest to take this matter very seriously.
It could have long range implications in concerns with the Internet, libraries, schools, and anyone who is in a class of information consumers who could struggle with additional cost to access information.
I am all for looking out for the rights of artists, authors, their publishers, and so on... My concern is that we may widen the information gap that technology has been closing by making so much available on line for free. This should be proceeded with caution in my opinion.
Any thoughts?
The link:
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/nbReader.asp?ArticleId=40519
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