Declan writes for CNET about the so-called "Pirate Act" - the latest imbecility to drift out of the Cartel's sock puppets in Congress. The idea is to use the Justice Department to sue (civil lawsuits) people who trade music, since the JD can do fun things like wiretap and subpoena directly. Presumably, the RIAA are tired of bad publicity and the perception of being at war with their customers. They are at war, but perception is a big part of this battle and they'd love to have someone else carrying this ball. (*)

As so often happens, you can tell how good these proposals are by how secretively they're handled. This one was submarined out onto the Senate floor without so much as a single hearing. I mean, who needs those messy hearings anyway? I mean, it's not like the public has anything to say, or there are alternatives that could be considered. Naaaah.

The Cartel are peevish because Justice, despite public prodding from Reichsfuhrer Ashcroft, has yet to initiate a single criminal prosecution for file sharing. Criminal prosecutions have a higher burden of proof than civil lawsuits and prosecutors recognized they had better things to do with their time.

Props apparently are due to Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) who has in the past slammed the RIAA for its jihad against consumers. No confirmation that he slapped a hold on this particular bill but it seems likely.

http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5220480.html

(*) There's an interesting bit of math I haven't seen anyone do yet. The RIAA are filing hundreds of suits. Most are settled, and we're told that the average settlement amount is $3000. I can't believe that the cost of researching and filing these things is less than a few thousands. I'm guessing $5000-10000 per. So that's a loss of a couple thousand bux per suit. Times several hundred and you're starting to look at a loss of significant magnitude - perhaps on the order of a quarter- to half a million dollars. No wonder they're looking to offload the costs onto someone else.