Music-swapping hurts national security?

["Rob, grandpa of Ryan, Trevor, Devon & Hannah" <rMslade () shaw ca>]

I'm sorry, but this just seems to go a bit beyond the realms of reasonable 
precaution.  I mean, I'm an author (even though text-only), so presumably I've 
got a reason to support copyright.  But music-swapping as a threat to national 
security?  OK, the file-sharing being a dangerous activity I can buy: I've always 
said that it (along with IM) is extremely dangerous.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office claims that file-sharing sites could 
be setting up children for copyright infringement lawsuits and compromising 
national security.  The report, which the patent office recently forwarded to the 
Department of Justice, states that peer-to-peer networks could manipulate sites so 
children violate copyright laws more frequently than adults. That could make 
children the target in most copyright lawsuits and, in turn, make those protecting 
their material appear antagonistic, according to the report. File-sharing software 
also could be to blame for government workers who expose sensitive data and 
jeopardize national security after downloading free music on the job, the report 
states.  

Report: http://www.uspto.gov/main/profiles/copyright.htm

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/copyright/oir_report_on_inadvertent_
sharing_v1012.pdf

Actually, the report seems to be a pedestrian and rather muddled recounting of 
some of the dangers of file-sharing systems.  The tying of music-swapping to 
national security seems to come from the trade rag:

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml;js
essionid=ELPRUV0M5LQ4KQSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=19800023
9&articleID=198000239

======================  (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer)
rslade () vcn bc ca     slade () victoria tc ca     rslade () computercrime org
We must scrupulously guard the civil liberties of all citizens,
whatever their background.  We must remember that any oppression,
any injustice, any hatred is a wedge designed to attack our
civilization.                            - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Dictionary of Information Security  www.syngress.com/catalog/?pid=4150
http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm
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