Sat, 22 Mar 2003 21:45:43 GMT

Industry execs claim file trading funds terrorism.

IDG News Service

Does File Trading Fund Terrorism?

Industry execs claim peer-to-peer networks pose more than just legal problems.

Grant Gross, IDG News Service Thursday, March 13, 2003

WASHINGTON — A congressional hearing on the links between terrorism, organized crime, and the illegal trading of copyrighted material produced more complaints about college students using peer-to-peer networks and other governments sanctioning copyright violations than it did evidence of nefarious connections.
[...]
Criminal Charges
Representative John Carter, (R-Texas), suggested that college students would stop downloading if some were prosecuted and received sentences of 33 months or longer, like the defendants in the DOJ's Operation Buccaneer. “I think it'd be a good idea to go out and actually bust a couple of these college kids,” Carter said. “If you want to see college kids duck and run, you let them read the papers and somebody's got a 33-month sentence in the federal penitentiary for downloading copyrighted materials.”

So totally ridiculous it verges on insane. So, is this the first step in the trying to get Larry Lessig arrested as a terrorist?

Found on Dave Farber's IP list. Couldn't find a link to the actual article, so linked to the article in the IP archives. If someone sends me the link to the IDG page, I will put it up… Thanks Milad!
Update: “file sharing” in title changed to “file trading”. Thanks Emile. Fixed the tag.

[Joi Ito's Web]

Ok, well, lets just admit one thing, capitalist economics and everything that sustains it also sustains terrorism, so buying milk supports terrors, etc. using the internet supports terror, etc.