Feds lie about link between software piracy and terrorism

[JimmyConway]

Feds lie about link between software piracy

Preston Gralla

http://blogs.computerworld.com/feds_lie_about_link_between_software_piracy_and_terrorism

The U.S. Justice Department seems to believe that if you tell a big enough lie, people will listen. Here's the latest: Attorney General Michael Mukasey claims that terrorists sell pirated software as a way to finance their operations, without presenting a shred of evidence for his case. He's doing it to push through a controversial piece of legislation that's bad for you. In a talk last week before at the Tech Museum of Innovation, Mukasey used his best fearmongering tactics to link software piracy to terrorists. In his speech, which you can read in its entirety here, he told the group:

Criminal syndicates, and in some cases even terrorist groups, view IP crime as a lucrative business, and see it as a low-risk way to fund other activities.

Mukasey went on to cite numerous cases in which the Justice Department has arrested those who pirate software, and in which the department has cooperated with other countries in investigations. He mentioned arrests in Florida, investigations in China, and warned about the Russian mob being involved in selling pirated software.

In not a single instance did Mukasey include a link to terrorism. Not one. You can be sure that if there were any links, Mukasey would make sure to get them on the nightly news.

So why is Mukasey trying to convince people there's a link between software piracy and terrorism, even though one doesn't exist? To force Congress to pass controversial intellectual property (IP) legislation that would increase IP penalties, increase police power, set up a new agency to investigate IP theft, and more.

Industry lobbyists have been pushing for it. And now Mukasey is trying to convince the country that the bill needs to be passed as a way to fight terrorism.

Hmmm....let's see. Our federal government tells us a lie about a terrorist link that doesn't exist, then tries to convince Congress and the country to take controversial action based on that lie. That has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it? We're still paying for believing that last lie --- let's not repeat the mistake.

[JMS]

You know if you've ever traveled in the third or second world, Buying Software is like buying drugs. You are walking down the street and a guy comes up to you and hands you a Xerox memo of like fifty pages thick, with software titles... Looks you in the eye and says, "you want to buy some software". If you give him any encourangement you will find yourself standing in front of his car trunk and be witness to boxes of thousands of software titles. Literally 100,000 of dollars worth of retail software yours for the asking...

If terrorists are selling software to fund their operations, It's likely a good thing. In my experience 800$ adobi photoshop, or $1200 dollars shockwave authoring software can be purchased for between 5 and 20$ from pirates. I'll bet folks begging on the streets in DC or Virginia find their empty hands more lucrative than openning up a software piracy business in the second or third world.. We can only hope al quada is funding their operations this way...

Remember the canadian Al Quada guy they picked up smuggleing a bomb into the US around new years 2000. He was funding his operations by stealing purses. He was likely 100x's more financially sucessful than software pirates.

[DGreenistheBest]

Who would pay anything for pirated software when it's so EASY to get completely free with even a dialup internet connection?

[ChocolateCitySkin]

Who would pay anything for pirated software when it's so EASY to get completely free with even a dialup internet connection?

people that are somewhat computer literate but not totally computer literate.