John G. Malcolm, deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice, claims that file swapping supports terrorism. In a Thursday hearing on the matter these wild claims where made, but there was little in the way of facts provided. When subcommittee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) asked for any specific examples, Malcome could not provide even one. He did however state It would surprise me greatly if the number were not large," and. "This is an easy enterprise to get into; the barriers of entry are very small, and the profits are huge."

Also talked about at the hearing were the possibility of more arrests at the user level of P2P in the near future. Representative John Carter, (R-Texas), said that he thought college students would stop downloading if some were prosecuted and received sentences of 33 months or longer. "If you want to see college kids duck and run, you let them read the papers and somebody's got a 33-month sentence in the federal penitentiary for downloading copyrighted materials." It seems to be a growing trend for the government to lump things together with terrorism that really are not connected at all. Something for P2P fans to keep in mind, 33 months in prison could be a high price for that new single you just found on Kazaa.

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File-Sharing/P2P Related :: Other

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