Senator [Diane] Feinstein, who predictably represents California, proposed an addition to the economic stimulus plan being rushed through Congress. Her amendment would declare ISP monitoring of all web traffic for copyright violations to be reasonable network management.Luckily, the amendment didn't make it into the final bill, but I'm sure we'll see other tries to implement this. The RIAA already seems to have ISPs lining up to act as their enforcers.
This would open the door for the so-called three strikes rules record labels and movie studios are anxious to see implemented. Their plan is to convince ISPs to disconnect users based on traffic monitoring data, avoiding expensive lawsuits they can't seem to win when challenged in court.
In other copyright-related news, the European Parliament has voted to double the already ridiculously-long copyrights on music recordings, continuing a pointless drift towards permanent copyright. And a CNET News report depressingly predicts that reform of our horse-and-buggy-era copyright laws in the new American regime is "unrealistic as ever".
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