Bill would allow forfeiture for music downloads

Something else you can blame the War on Drugs for: the unconstitutional practice of forfeiture without due process. Under this pilferage, the authorities seize cars, houses, computers, and other property from folks they suspect are involved in drugs - without even putting the person on trial first to learn whether they're innocent or guilty. Usually the confiscated property is never returned, even if no charges are ever filed.

Now the U.S. House has just passed H.R. 4279, which would let the RIAA deputize local police to seize property from alleged copyright infringers - without the person even being convicted of a crime first. With the RIAA's track record, few are safe: The RIAA has accused folks of illegally sharing music even if they've never used a computer in their lives, so this bill makes innocent parties vulnerable to rogue forfeitures. Anyone who purchased music legally but can't prove it was a legal purchase is especially susceptible. Whenever the RIAA sues, they never seem to provide much evidence the defendant did anything wrong, so a lot of innocent defendants are going to find their property at risk.

Only 11 House members voted against this ominous bill. One of them was Dennis Kucinich, so now I'm gladder than ever I defended him from the networks' censorship during the debates.

(Source: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/09/house-passes-bill-th.html)