Computerworld - US Feds lie about link between software piracy and terrorism - The Diigo Meta page

• 04 Apr 08
  

  Jonathan Bailey

  The US Justice Department seems to believe that if you tell a big enough lie, people will listen. Here's the latest: Attorney General Michael Mukasey claims that terrorists sell pirated software as a way to finance their operations, without presenting a shred of evidence for his case. He's doing it to push through a controversial piece of legislation that's bad for you.

  53 terrorism piracy

  • Mukasey went on to cite numerous cases in which the US Justice Department has arrested those who pirate software, and in which the department has cooperated with other countries in investigations. He mentioned arrests in Florida, investigations in China, and warned about the Russian mob being involved in selling pirated software. 

    In not a single instance did Mukasey include a link to terrorism. Not one. You can be sure that if there were any links, Mukasey would make sure to get them on the nightly news. 

    So why is Mukasey trying to convince people there's a link between software piracy and terrorism, even though one doesn't exist? To force US Congress to pass controversial intellectual property (IP) legislation that would increase IP penalties, increase police power, set up a new agency to investigate IP theft, and more. 

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