A coalition of tech groups and free-speech advocates launched a project Tuesday to distribute video and audio of recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Induce Act – using the very peer-to-peer networks the bill seeks to outlaw.
Organizers of P2P Congress said they wanted to prove that peer-to-peer file-sharing technology can be used for a broad range of non-infringing purposes, and they hope the online experiment will help kill the Induce Act, a bill also known as the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (SB2560).
As written, the act would penalize technology companies and consumer electronics makers for creating any device that could "induce" or encourage users to make unauthorized copies of copyright material such as music, movies or software. Critics have said devices like the iPod could be illegal under the law.
The group's founders said the distribution method makes coverage of government hearings accessible in a manner that would not be economically feasible using traditional webcasts or conventional sources like cable TV.
Since Friday, project participants have been "seeding" copies of last week's Senate hearings on P2P services including BitTorrent, eDonkey, Gnutella, Morpheus and TrustyFiles.
The Senate Judiciary Committee broadcasts its hearings online, but does not offer archives for people who couldn't catch the hearings live.
P2P file-sharing networks, in contrast, are effectively free, permanent and become more efficient as popularity increases and more users share the burden of file distribution.
"Government shouldn't be in the business of banning technology that makes free speech possible in new ways, and helps boost political participation and awareness," said P2P Congress founder John Parres.
Movie studios and the Recording Industry Association of America have embraced the Induce Act, introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont). Between 1999 and 2004, Hatch received $159,860 in campaign donations from the TV, movie and music industries, according to Opensecrets.org, which monitors campaign donations. In the same period, Leahy received $220,450. They each received less money from the Internet, computer and telecommunications industries.
But tech companies are banding together to shoot down the Induce Act, arguing that it would give Hollywood veto power over which devices can be brought to market and threaten America's dominance in the software and hardware industries. Everything from Apple Computer's iPod to digital camcorders and CD burners could be threatened, they say.
"If enacted, a lot of useful technology could be found unlawful," said Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Virginia).
"To 'induce' someone to violate copyright – there's no standard for that, and the bill doesn't define a new standard, so any technology that facilitates copying or recording could be found in violation," Boucher said. "That includes paper, pencils and copy machines. I'm not sure that (the Induce Act's) proponents fully understand how extreme the scope is, but if and when they do perhaps they'll modify it or come to the reasonable decision not to move it forward."
Future plans for P2P Congress involve becoming an online clearinghouse for a broad range of government hearings. People could record Senate webcasts, for instance, then submit audio or video files to the group for broader peer-to-peer distribution.
"If people begin to think P2P stands for 'power to the people,' we've done our job," said P2P Congress' Parres. "We just want to induce free speech."
