American Entertainment Industry Wants To Be Allowed To Send Malware To Pirates
As online piracy continues to be a rising problem for the America entertainment industry it is now looking to take even more drastic measures to counter it. According to a proposal put forward by the American entertainment industry they would pre-install this controlled “malware” onto your PC when you “look” at copyright protected content. Then if you download, house or consume this copyright content without appropriately paying for it, those copyrighted files would be locked and so will your computer. There would then follow some kind of message about how you can turn yourself in and pay for your “crime” to get your computer unlocked.
This proposal, which can only be described as an idiotic and invasive money-grabbing venture, has received criticism from rights groups and the American government and is highly unlikely to ever make it through.
According to the official proposal: “Software can be written that will allow only authorized users to open files containing valuable information. If an unauthorized person accesses the information, a range of actions might then occur. For example, the file could be rendered inaccessible and the unauthorized user’s computer could be locked down, with instructions on how to contact law enforcement to get the password needed to unlock the account”
As if the proposal wasn’t deluded enough, it even goes on to state that such measures do not violate existing laws on the use of the internet.
What are your thoughts on all of this?
Image courtesy of Carbonated TV
Only in America…
‘muricans. So, if I send someone a malware, it’s illegal, but if they do, it’s ok? Silliest thing I heard from them so far…
Like it would work anyway, there would be some sort of defence against it released within a few weeks. These are the same people that have tried to shut down the pirate bay for 7 years…
Already exists: http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/support/card?id=1673
Yes but that isn’t by government officials that is by people pretending to be government officials. That is essentially hackers capitalising on ransomware. What this new proposal means is that the enforcement agencies for the American entertainment industry will be able to legally develop and implement their own ransomware.
you are idiot pirates if you try to put words in their mouth . They aren’t sending anyone a virus. They’re attaching it to the media. Those that have permission to view it via purchasing is, may do so freely. Those that do not, have their pc locked down
yes they can attach it to the media, either way they still need to install files into your system to lock the PC down so it is technically malware.
What happens if i own the movie legally and want to make a digital backup? Just sounds like legalized cyber terrorism to me. Will have everyone scared to even do legal backups and will make people stop buying period.
All they want is money, and they will lose the money if they try to do that. What is illegal to us, should be illegal to everybody. But, I would not be surprised if this passes through, it is USA at the end of the day, the country where people with lots of money can pay off and pressure politicians to pass the laws that suit only certain companies. This should not be allowed, for private investors to influence the direction where the law is heading.