Hi all. This mail concerns a new bill of law passed by the United States congress. The bill itself can be found at ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c105/h2265.eh.txt and further information on it can be found by searching for bill h2265 at this URL: http://thomas.loc.gov

Although not quite as sensational as ABC News made it out to be (surprise surprise), the Act could still have a significant impact on the scene. For those of you that do not live in the US, such as myself, you should still be concerned about this law, because the US is the source for most warez. You should also be concerned because if the US federal authorities [in cooperation with the Software Piracy Association (SPA), which is funded by companies with HUGE resources that have vested interest in anti-piracy movements,] is able to successfully enforce this law, the SPA will probably encourage local authorities in other countries to try the same thing. The SPA will have collected an immense amount of data on the scene already, making it that much easier for other countries to join in.

Before the NET Act, US Law made it illegal to distribute copyrighted material for profit. The NET Act changes the legal definition of "profit" to include the gain of other copyrighted material, ie. trading warez/music. So this means that if feds can prove that you uploaded warez somewhere, and are in possession of warez yourself, you are committing an offense. Broadly speaking. It will be interesting to see what the courts allow as proof, etc.. in the upcoming cases.

The NET Act also raises the stakes. If the total retail value of the pirated material exceeds $2,500 US (ie. 10 copies of something worth $250), you "shall be imprisoned not more than 6 years, or fined the amount set forth in this title, or both..."

The law gives software companies the right to claim losses against you which are equal in value to the "estimated economic impact" of your activities. Also thrown in for good measure, is an addendum to ensure a harsh and incompassionate sentencing - the sentencing of convicted persons under this law should be "sufficiently stringent to deter such a crime... [the sentence should] provide for consideration of the retail value and quantity of the items..."

Clearly this is a "shoot to kill" policy, which shows the government's intent to act on this newly constructed offense. So I ask that you cover your asses, whether you feel that you are at risk or not, so as not to put others at risk. This includes not sending sensitive information (logins, passwords, site IPs, etc) on irc channels or in private /msgs. Use dcc chat, it's a direct connection. This also includes protecting email messages using strong (non-US) encryption. Such protection can be downloaded for free (and in almost all languages) at: http://www.ifi.uio.no/pgp/

Take care.

-FLoWCTRL-
Future Couriers