WASHINGTON -- If you've ever contemplated violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, be warned: Congress is set to more than double the number of federal copyright cops.
A draft of next year's budget includes plans to hire far more Justice Department attorneys and FBI agents who are charged with placing more pirates in prison.
This comes one week after Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke in Mountain View, California, about the threat of online piracy. In the same week, geek protesters demanded the release of Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian programmer arrested on felony copyright charges.
That's exactly what should be happening, according to a Senate committee report. In an apparent reference to the prosecution, it says: "The committee is aware that the FBI has launched an initiative to investigate violations of federal copyright laws protecting certain marketed software applications. The committee supports FBI efforts..."
The Senate has earmarked $10 million for copyright prosecutions, enough money for 155 agents and attorneys in the fiscal year starting in October. That's up from a current $4 million allocated for 75 positions.
Copyright holders, who applauded the prosecution of Sklyarov on charges of violating the controversial DMCA, said they hoped the additional cash will put more DMCA pirates and copyright thieves behind bars.
"We are very pleased with the amount. It's going to be used to prevent a whole lot of Internet piracy and mischief," said Patricia Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers.
"If someone crashed the international banking community, it wouldn't be too funny," Schroeder said. "The Department of Justice wants to send the message that this is not a joke. You really could put someone out of business."
The report accompanying the appropriations bill says: "The committee directs the U.S. attorneys to vigorously prosecute violations of federal copyright law. Appropriations that are not used to fund these positions shall be used by the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section to reimburse regional offices for the resources spent by regional office personnel on intellectual property investigations."
The committee also complains that the FBI's cybercrime and copyright squads "have been living on hand me downs" and is handing them an addition $4 million for "computers and associated equipment."
When Congress enacted the DMCA in 1998, the law was terribly obscure -- but since then it has emerged as one of the most important and far-reaching technology regulations. Sklyarov is charged with trafficking a program to bypass Adobe's copy protection for e-books, a federal felony under the DMCA.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has taken up Sklyarov's cause, met with prosecutors on Friday but was not able to secure the accused programmer's release.
"I think it is a great thing," says Robert Holleyman, CEO of the Business Software Alliance, of the budget increase. BSA includes companies such as Adobe, Microsoft and Novell.
"The effect will be to ensure that the Department of Justice has enough prosecutors and agents who are trained in computers and technology crimes," Holleyman said. "We're very pleased with this for the year ahead."
The Senate appropriations committee approved the bill last Thursday, and it is awaiting a floor vote. The House must also approve the measure for it to take effect.
A spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Justice Department's budget says he couldn't predict when that will happen.
