Schwarzenegger Muscles P2P Prohibition

Arnold Schwarzenegger has come his former love, the entertainment insdustry, to the rescue. Last Friday the Californian governor signed an executive order aimed at the prohibition of file-sharing software on state computers and networks. Unsurprisingly the RIAA reacts enthusiastically, and with the usual exaggeration of the importance of their own course:

"This executive order is bold, timely and warranted,'' said Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America. "The governor's action appropriately recognizes that technologies can be hijacked to compromise sensitive governmental information and, more importantly, for illicit purposes that rob the creative community of its future."

Yeh, the download of an MP3 is more important than the guts of government spilled out over the network. Megalomaniacs abundant at the RIAA.

Wisely the policy is not applied to the legislative and judicial branch. You don't want to take away the joys of downloading from either a judge or legislator. They might get irritated, follow international example and declare it legal. Then RIAA prez Cary Sherman can write what he wants. Even that the latest Usher would beat some classified documents outlining an elaborate scheme to propel the United States into the Sixth Reich.

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Extra: Tuesday this week Schwarzenegger was back to sign his name under another piece of legislation that requiers a valid email address and title for a work that is file-shared with more than 10 people outside the imediate family. In the future kids can do some serious jalhouse rock for swapping songs of their favourite artists:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law Tuesday establishing fines and potential jail time for anonymous file swappers. The new law says that any California resident who sends copyrighted works without permission to at least 10 other people must include his or her e-mail address and the title of the work. Swappers who do not include this information will face fines of up to $2,500 and up to one year in prison.

Minors can be fined up to $250 for their first two offenses, and a minor’s third offense can bring a $1,000 fine and a year in county jail. The law provides exemptions for people sending works to immediate family members and for the transmission of works inside a home network.

Thru Furdlog: Text of the law, and a related SF Gate article