Induce alarm

“When the lawyers at EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation] first sat down and asked ‘Whom could we sue under the Induce Act [the Inducing Infringements of Copyright Act (PDF), proposed by Sens. Hatch, Daschle, Leahy, Boxer and others] if we were an abusive copyright holder?’ the answer was clear: pretty much everybody. Playing the devil’s advocates, […]

“When the lawyers at EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation] first sat down and asked ‘Whom could we sue under the Induce Act [the Inducing Infringements of Copyright Act (PDF), proposed by Sens. Hatch, Daschle, Leahy, Boxer and others] if we were an abusive copyright holder?’ the answer was clear: pretty much everybody. Playing the devil’s advocates, we knew we could draft a legal complaint against any number of the major computer or electronics manufacturers for selling everyday devices we all know and love — CD burners, MP3 players, cell phones — and that with that complaint, we could file a lawsuit that would survive any attempt to dismiss it before trial, costing the targeted company up to $1,000,000 per month in legal fees alone. The Induce Act is a nasty, brutish stick in the hands of the wrong plaintiff.” (“Prelude to a Fake Complaint”, EFF website, Jun. 24). See Bryan Chaffin, “EFF Demonstrates How To Use New Law Against Apple, iPod”, Mac Observer, Jun. 25. For more on the bill, see Legal Reader, Jun. 10.

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