BBC News reports that the FBI is now offering its official seal to manufacturers of CDs, DVDs, and video games. Just as the FBI stopped pirates of prerecorded VHS video cassettes dead in their tracks in 1980s, expanding the seal to additional copyrighted media will keep junior from ripping some MP3s with his Dell and sharing them on Kazaa.
In fact, piracy is a big priority for the FBI. Notes the BBC, "...The FBI... says piracy is now its third biggest priority behind terrorism and counter-intelligence." Which means piracy of copyrighted works now outranks the following FBI missions:
- fighting organized crime
- investigating unsolved serial murders
- protecting abortion clinics from bombings
- looking for illegal environmental spills that endanger the health of millions
From the story:
The [new FBI] label has the backing of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and two groups representing the software industry, the Entertainment Software Association and the Software and Information Industry Association.
RIAA executive vide president Brad Buckles said: "As the seal attests, these are serious crimes with serious consequences - including federal prosecution - to making unauthorised copies or uploading music without permission, and consumers should be aware of them."
In related news, the U.S. Department of Transportation will now be affixing the following statement to all speed limit signs on interstate highways: "Speeding is illegal, and you could receive an expensive ticket for every violation. Have a nice day. Norm Mineta."