Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
When people see crimes they don't care about getting much harsher sentences than crimes they do care about (like old lady-mugging) they will start to question it.
|
The problem isn't public outcry against stupid copyright laws--it's that criminal law is enforced at taxpayers' expense, regardless of the wishes of law enforcement personnel. They don't have a choice to ignore "not-a-problem" offenses (like, for example, someone copying & fw'ding someone else's email)--they'd have to prosecute every instance they saw of copyright infringement. They'd either need very extensive lists of what qualified as "fair use," or they'd have to drag it all to court, and let the defender argue that the use was fair.
This wouldn't be limited to downloading; every use of a photocopy machine is a potential crime, and someone calling the police to say "someone is copying a whole book at Kinko's" would require action--at least a report being filed, possibly an inspect-and-arrest.
Copyright law doesn't at all switch over to criminal law easily. There are criminal aspects--for commercial use over a certain value. But noncommercial use, whether or not that's "infringement," has always been up to the copyright owner to track down and decide whether to sue over.
Is it legal to print out a (non-creativecommons) webcomic to post in one's cubicle, or is that infringement? Do you want tax dollars spent deciding that?