FBI Prioritizes Copyright Over Missing Persons

An anonymous reader writes "The FBI has limited resources, so it needs to prioritize what it works on. However, it's difficult to see why dealing with copyright infringement seems to get more attention than identity theft or missing persons. In the past year, the FBI has announced a special new task force to fight intellectual property infringement, but recent reports have shown that both identity theft and missing persons have been downgraded as priorities by the FBI, to the point that there are a backlog of such cases."

No need to ask

[airfoobar]

Missing persons haven't spent millions in lobbying, while the copyright industries have. It's distressing how easy governments are to buy these days, and the US seems to be doing its absolute worst lately -- they are almost dropping all pretence and simply doing what the corporate masters tell them to do.

Wrong

[dracocat]

INCORRECT:
The FBI is NOT prioritizing copyright over missing persons.

CORRECT:
The FBI has a backlog of missing person DNA to run in the DNA labs.
The FBI is increasing the amount of manpower assigned to copyright.

I don't know how much the FBI should spend at all on copyright, but it is a bit of a stretch to take the current facts and say that copyright is prioritized over missing persons.

Re:Why federal involvement

[mrnobo1024]

Copyrights and patents are one of the things the Constitution actually allows Congress to make laws regarding:

Article I, section 8: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries"

The "limited time" part has been completely forgotten in the case of copyright, though.

Question about original sources

[electricprof]

I've looked at the Wired article and the Techdirt articles, and I'm pretty sure I can track down original sources in what might be called the "major media" that discuss the downgrading if emphasis on missing persons. Similarly, I can track down sources discussing the creation of a new task force on IP. What I'm looking for is a major media source that talks about the relative prioritization of these two. Did I miss that in the articles? Does somebody know of one?

Uh...

[msauve]

Typefaces can't be copyrighted. Code which draw them algorithmically, yes, but not fonts [sic]. They are specifically excluded from copyright (in the US).

37 CFR 202.1:

Material not subject to copyright.

The following are examples of works not subject to copyright and applications for registration of such works cannot be entertained:
...
(e) Typeface as typeface.

Federalism 101

[westlake]

The FBI exists to protect profits. In fact the government exists to protect commerce, the very basis of our society

In the American federal system, tracking down missing persons is traditionally a local and state responsibility, prosecuting economic and property crimes that have a national and constitutiobal dimension a federal responsibility.

The FBI has 60 active Kidnapping and Missing Persons Investigations [fbi.gov]

This may give a clearer idea of how small the FBI role in such cases really is.

Re:Actually...

[Devout_IPUite]

No, really, John Locke was HEAVILY involved in slavery...

Re:Elementary my dear Watson

[khallow]

It was because during the push across the Rhine the Germans, desperate to slow us down, actually used the FLAK 88 as an antipersonnel weapon, like a civil war cannon.

As an aside, the 88 gun [wikipedia.org] was one of the most flexible pieces of military hardware in the Second World War. You could shoot just about anything with it. I imagine they were shooting people with it long before they got to the above level of desperation.

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