Hatch Takes Aim at Illegal Downloading

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/6109851.htm

TED BRIDIS
Associated Press
June 17, 2003

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said
Tuesday he favors developing new technology to remotely destroy the
computers of people who illegally download music from the Internet.

The surprise remarks by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, during a hearing on
copyright abuses represent a dramatic escalation in the frustrating
battle by industry executives and lawmakers in Washington against
illegal music downloads.

During a discussion on methods to frustrate computer users who
illegally exchange music and movie files over the Internet, Hatch
asked technology executives about ways to damage computers involved in
such file trading. Legal experts have said any such attack would
violate federal anti-hacking laws.

"No one is interested in destroying anyone's computer," replied Randy
Saaf of MediaDefender Inc., a secretive Los Angeles company that
builds technology to disrupt music downloads. One technique
deliberately downloads pirated material very slowly so other users
can't.

"I'm interested," Hatch interrupted. He said damaging someone's
computer "may be the only way you can teach somebody about
copyrights."

The senator, a composer who earned $18,000 last year in song writing
royalties, acknowledged Congress would have to enact an exemption for
copyright owners from liability for damaging computers. He endorsed
technology that would twice warn a computer user about illegal online
behavior, "then destroy their computer."

"If we can find some way to do this without destroying their machines,
we'd be interested in hearing about that," Hatch said. "If that's the
only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines. If you have a
few hundred thousand of those, I think people would realize" the
seriousness of their actions, he said.

"There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws," Hatch said.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee's senior Democrat, later said the
problem is serious but called Hatch's idea too drastic a remedy to be
considered.

"The rights of copyright holders need to be protected, but some
Draconian remedies that have been suggested would create more problems
than they would solve," Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. "We need to
work together to find the right answers, and this is not one of them."

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who has been active in copyright debates in
Washington, urged Hatch to reconsider. Boucher described Hatch's role
as chairman of the Judiciary Committee as "a very important position,
so when Senator Hatch indicates his views with regard to a particular
subject, we all take those views very seriously."

A spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America,
Jonathan Lamy, said Hatch was "apparently making a metaphorical point
that if peer-to-peer networks don't take reasonable steps to prevent
massive copyright infringement on the systems they create, Congress
may be forced to consider stronger measures." The RIAA represents the
major music labels.

Some legal experts suggested Hatch's provocative remarks were more
likely intended to compel technology and music executives to work
faster toward ways to protect copyrights online than to signal
forthcoming legislation.

"It's just the frustration of those who are looking at enforcing laws
that are proving very hard to enforce," said Orin Kerr, a former
Justice Department cybercrimes prosecutor and associate professor at
George Washington University law school.

The entertainment industry has gradually escalated its fight against
Internet file-traders, targeting the most egregious pirates with civil
lawsuits. The Recording Industry Association of America recently won a
federal court decision making it significantly easier to identify and
track consumers - even those hiding behind aliases - using popular
Internet file-sharing software.

Kerr predicted it was "extremely unlikely" for Congress to approve a
hacking exemption for copyright owners, partly because of risks of
collateral damage when innocent users might be wrongly targeted.

"It wouldn't work," Kerr said. "There's no way of limiting the
damage."

---

On the Net: Sen. Hatch: http://hatch.senate.gov



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