FECA: When D.C. Is Unanimous, You Know Your Lobbyists Are Good

As part of the steady tightening of the IP noose around copyright pirates and P2P abusers, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Family Entertainment And Copyright Act.

Folks, we’re probably going to see one of these things enacted every couple of years. Senator Feinstein may pretend to be a liberal, but all politics is local, and corporate Hollywood has her in their pocket. Indeed, there wasn’t one single senator who felt big business didn’t deserve these latest new protections.

That’s good for those of us making a living in this industry.

Of course, if you’re the spokesman for these guys, you’re probably wondering why you’re still bothering to roll the boulder up the damn hill.

Members of P2P United and any responsible company support intellectual property laws and their enforcement,” Adam Eisgrau, exec director for P2P United, told Daily Variety. “However, this package seems to be another point on a very distressingly long line of actions that ratchet up enforcements and penalties at times out of proportion with the law. To camcord a movie is wrong, certainly, but the penalty (of three years in jail) and the entitlement of theater ushers and owners to physically detain people makes you have to ask whether the copyright industry is having more sway than it should over the legislative process.”

Distressingly long line of actions? In my opinion, this is merely the beginning.

Does the “copyright industry” (an interesting and apt phrase to describe Hollywood) hold more sway than it should? Oh, I don’t know about that. More sway than an organization dedicated to promoting software that is primarily used to circumvent intellectual property rights? Yeah. Just a touch.

Let’s see if any representatives in the House agree with Mr. Eisgrau. I doubt he’ll find many takers.