Texas Rep Wants To Jail File Traders 739
kUnGf00m45t3r writes "There is an article on Wired about how Texas Rep. John Carter wants to jail some college students to scare people away from illegal file sharing. He says, "What these kids don't realize is that every time they pull up music and movies and make a copy, they are committing a felony under the United States code," Carter said in an interview. "If you were to prosecute someone and give them three years, I think this would act as a deterrent." Right..."
Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Using RIAA screwy logic, does this mean that I haven't actually cost them anything?
Interesting... (Score:5, Funny)
Inmate 2: "6 to 10. Downloaded 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.'"
Inmate 1: "Can you hand me that soap?"
Unfortunately, no deterrent for idiocy. (Score:1, Funny)
the positively obvious (Score:0, Funny)
A statement from the Recording Industry Association of America seems to back Carter's point of view.
boy, you don't say...
I figured on the RIAA coming out against the jailing of college students on some sort of human rights platform.
Re:Deterrent... (Score:4, Funny)
Tom.
Wonderful plan (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Nice Idea! (Score:3, Funny)
The more you steal the less you are punished."
Yeah, but only if you're a CEO.
Disney Jails for tots (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Deterrent... (Score:5, Funny)
Jailing file traders (Score:5, Funny)
Thatt'll Work !!! (Score:1, Funny)
from smoking pot, taking LSD, and hitchhiking to
Woodstock....LOL
Also by jailing the politicians we'd be giving
those in prison some real criminal mentors
with educations.....wow
He thinks people will stand for this? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:logic? (Score:5, Funny)
Deterrent? Absolutely! (Score:3, Funny)
Finally! (Score:3, Funny)
Even if they start randomly jailing 0.1% of all offenders you have to make room for tens of thousands of "criminals" in your already overcrowded jails, and the net result is that 99.9% of people will get away with it, scot-free.
I think they SHOULD enforce it, and make the record companies pay for the prosecution and the new jails that will be needed to house millions of young adults. Sure, schools will be pretty empty for a while and they might cause long-term economic damage, but at least kids will no longer be sharing files and can get back to smoking weed and drinking & driving!
Go Texas! Can't trade files but you can pistol-whip that black piece of shit who offered to wash the windows of your truck.
Re:What these kids don't realize (Score:3, Funny)
Who wants to bet he has KaZaA at home right now while he's at work downloading the new Kenny G album? Hah.
Re:File traders (Score:0, Funny)
No use as a human shield, you don't want a shield that draws fire!
Obligatory Soviet Union reference (Score:3, Funny)
However, I don't think this goes far enough. I have a more Texan solution for the rep. to adopt.
Kill them all.
Yes, it's well known that most crimes are committed by young men aged 16-30. Kill the lot of them. It'll stop most of the hacking, most of the file sharing, get rid of most of the drug addicts. It will get rid of most of the cheap foreign labor so senior US programmers will have jobs again. It will reduce US carbon dioxide output significantly so Bush can take credit for reducing global warming. It will reduce underage pregnancies. It will remove most of the opposition to the religious Right. It will greatly reduce drunk driving.
OK, the downside is that CD sales will fall catastrophically. But in these difficult times, we must all make sacrifices. Even the RIAA. And we could have a stonking great memorial in DC, to all the young men who gave their lives in the war against (file-sharing) terror.
Next off: Why they should bring in the death penalty for double parking.
Stupid? Not as stupid as "let's give a few people a major criminal record for a minor offence to discourage the others." Texas and Saudi: the similarities run deep.
Re:Yeah, right.... (Score:3, Funny)
Look, let's be honest ... (Score:2, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:logic? (Score:3, Funny)
;-)
Re:Disney Jails for tots (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Disney Jails for tots (Score:0, Funny)
Re:logic? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Interesting... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:logic? (Score:5, Funny)
Then, and only then, will we be able to go to "Green [whitehouse.org]" alert.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
A rumored Amish belief that I have heard (never validated, though) is that part of their soul is stolen when a photo is taken of them.
I wonder if that also means that part of the soul of a song is stolen every time it's copied. That would kind of explain why so much contemporary music is soulless, bland, commercial mulch.
In Texasese.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Re: Yeah, right.... (Score:3, Funny)
The International Court doesn't recognize the rights afforded to us all by God and protected by the US Constitution. According to the UN, any "right" that interferes with the UN's charter is invalid. What's entirely legal in one country (free speech, for instance) could be considered a criminal act by the UN, and a citizen may be tried by foreign nationals.
See the difference? In America, God gives us rights as human beings. In the UN, the UN "gives" you rights so long as it's not contrary to the UN's "goals" (read: "inconvenient to whoever's in charge of the UN at that particular moment.")
I'm proud that the UN International Court has been told to go stuff themselves. Soverign nations should never freely relinquish their self-determination.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:1, Funny)
Good idea! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:What these kids don't realize (Score:3, Funny)
</SARCASM> (for all you mods out there)
This is not going far enough! (Score:3, Funny)