Key Senators take on companies that create P2P applications

Jul 07, 2004

New legislation recently introduced by a group of powerful U.S. senators would allow artists and entertainment companies to sue creators of products, such as peer-to-peer (P-to-P) software, that “induce” copyright violations.
Yahoo News Story

Opinion Editorial:
Even though these programs are primarily used to share movies and songs that are protected under copyright laws this Bill could be bad law if not written properly. So far it looks like the recording industry or movie industry would be able to sue the companies that make these programs. Not all uses of these programs are illegal and many are used for legitimate purposes. I don’t know about you but I think there is a good chance that Tom Daschle and Orrin Hatch haven’t a clue what these programs are. They only hear what the RIAA lobby and Hollywood lobbies have to say. This will be very interesting to follow.