Big Content's dystopian wish-list for the US gov't: spyware, censorship, physical searches and SWAT teams

The MPAA and RIAA have submitted their master plan for enforcing copyright to the new Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Richard Esguerra points out, it’s a startlingly distopian work of science fiction. The entertainment industry calls for:

• spyware on your computer that detects and deletes infringing materials;
• mandatory censorware on all Internet connections to interdict transfers of infringing material;
• border searches of personal media players, laptops and thumb-drives;
• international bullying to force other countries to implement the same policies;
• and free copyright enforcement provided by Fed cops and agencies (including the Department of Homeland Security!).

There’s a technical term for this in policy circles. I believe it’s “Totally insane.”

There are several technologies and methods that can be used by network administrators and providers…these include [consumer] tools for managing copyright infringement from the home (based on tools used to protect consumers from viruses and malware).

In other words, the entertainment industry thinks consumers should voluntarily install software that constantly scans our computers and identifies (and perhaps deletes) files found to be “infringing.” It’s hard to believe the industry thinks savvy, security-conscious consumers would voluntarily do so. But those who remember the Sony BMG rootkit debacle know that the entertainment industry is all too willing to sacrifice consumers at the altar of copyright enforcement.

The Entertainment Industry’s Dystopia of the Future

(Image: duopia, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from jonny2love’s photostream)