I didn't know I was swearing under oath every time I went online.

Did you notice, pwilley, that this Justice Dept. official works in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property? You might as well call it "protecting corporate rights online" section of the Justice Dept.

What would this mean for remaining anonymous on the internet? Would our handles have to be our legal names whenver we post on TER?

Many people lie about who they are on the internet to prevent identity theft. So it seems, if I'm understanding this right, that the remote threat of stealing corporate intellectual property is something to be more concerned about than the identity theft of individuals.

And violating a website's terms of service would be a crime? Wow, isn't it nice that you could effectively write your own laws just by building a website?

Well, wherever there's a bribed gov't bureaucrat with a bad idea, there's always someone out there willing to turn it into an opportunity. I can see a certain TER poster buying up URLs right and left, and posting terms of service agreements that dictate that by viewing this website you must mail Willy your complete stash of your sticky icky.

I'm Willy Wonka, and that's how I fucking roll. Boo-yah bitches!



-- Modified on 11/16/2011 2:50:13 PM

If anyone in Congress starts fucking around with anything approaching this kind of law my Congressman will be hearing from me (for whatever that's worth!).

-- Modified on 11/16/2011 7:20:10 PM

I had to laugh. Politicians, telling us they are going to make it a felony to lie?

Have I suddenly been transported to the Twilight Zone?

There is a long history of this type of grab by the govt.  It started with the Telecommunications Act in the 80s further ingrained in the Patriot Act and exacerbated by the wireless wiretapping of US Citizens.  The FBI has been floating proposals forcing ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to keep a record of every website you website you visit up to 2 years.  The gov't is throwing around euphemisms like cyber-war and cyber-terrorism around the halls of congress trying to scare legislators into passing legislation that will allow more an more gov't involvement into the internet, even down to the networks that businesses reside.  Call your legislators an fight this!!!