USPTO: Another RIAA Shill

Filed in archive Commentary , Government , Privacy & Security , RIAA, IFPI on May 7, 2007

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) report "filesharing Programs and Technological Features to Induce Users to Share" attacks P2P software for causing consumers to inadvertently share unintended files. Incredibly the report then takes another huge leap and claims that P2P then is also a factor in terrorism, child pornography, and identity theft.

The EFF provides a comprehensive analysis on this farce that I recommend. I've personally presented to both the U.S. FTC and Senate and so want to focus on two aspects.

First, the P2P industry has been responsive to government concerns. Commercial P2P software has been improved through a combination of voluntary company initiatives, P2P association standards, and government recommendations. These improvements have included a clear warning on P2P usage risks on software home pages, information web pages on how consumers can protect themselves, and child exploitation warnings and reporting.

Second, the report is three years late. The commercial companies that the report purports to study are out of business or substantially different due to RIAA lawsuits supported by favorable U.S. Congress legislation and Supreme Court rulings. The result is that the commercial companies that could work with the USPTO have been superseded by open source and international developers that are beyond the influence of the U.S. government.