[Wsis-pct] HR 4077 (was Re: [WSIS CS-Plenary] FBI Seizes Indymedia Servers in the UK)

[Richard Stallman]

    >The use of the term "theft of intellectual property" is an indication
    >of how the authors of this bill are giving way to the propaganda
    >of the publishers.  The only way to steal a copyright or a patent
    >is to pretend to be the owner of it.

    That won't stop the bill from passing unchecked.

The point is that this shows how use of "intellectual property" makes
vicious laws seem legitimate.  We cannot stop with fighting these laws
one by one.  We have to fight the generator that produces them, which
is the concept of "intellectual property".

    They can't enforce these laws on foreigners? Don't forget just last year
    an Australian court was the court chosen for a libel case for a company
    in the U.S. which had allegedly slandered an Australian resident;

US courts sometimes apply judgments from other countries' courts, but
most countries' courts will not apply US court judgments.  If you are
a company with business interests in the US, you would be exposed to
the US court.  But in general they cannot get at people who live in
other countries.



								      I
    don't have the details at my fingertips but this is a real case. It's
    also what people involved in law call a 'precedent'.