Inducing Action

EFF reports that the Induce Act has fallen off the fast track in Congress. From the latest issue of their EFFector newsletter:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has taken the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (Induce Act, S.2560) off the fast track, scheduling a hearing on the bill next Thursday. This is good news for the public, but the recording industry is going on the offensive, turning up its rhetoric in an effort to scare common sense out of the debate. In a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee and all 100 senators, RIAA president Mitch Bainwol insists that critics of the bill are missing the point, and that the Induce Act is a "moral behavioral test that targets the bad guys."

But the wording of the legislation itself doesn't support Bainwol's claims. By making it illegal to "aid, abet, or induce copyright infringement," the Induce Act could make companies liable for violations committed by their customers. This extends liability so far that it threatens both current and future technologies.

Meanwhile, Boing Boing reports on the RIAA's efforts to push it through and one annotation of an RIAA letter that is a pretty effective rebuttal of the industry's claims.

You can help stop the Induce Act in its tracks by writing to your Senator.