Senator Uses Piracy Report to Pressure Credit Card Companies

I thought credit card companies had already cut off services to websites that facilitated piracy.

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has sent letters to Visa and MasterCard on the topic of online piracy. Citing a report from Netnames detailing the activities of the world's top cyberlockers, Leahy urges the services to stop doing business with all 'pirate' sites.

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Wouldn't it just be easier to label suspected piracy groups and operations as ... I don't know..."terrorists" maybe?!?!

It'd force legit businesses and ANYONE else to end supporting them and open a hornets nest of possibilities with regard to interrogation and prosecution of those elements that use, support and/or operate, them.

Of course, this is exactly what MPAA and RIAA would drool over, so we know the legality would be called into question out of the gate.....unless it was a black op with rendition capabilities authorized;-) ;-)

The next step would be to call into question the practice of loaning a friend your copy of Battlestar Galactica Season 3, or renting a newly released title from your local video store, as yet another 'type' of piracy'

They've already been equating piracy with terrorism for over a decade now.

Can we start a collection to send Mr. Leahy to Hong Kong or Bangkok for a week, and see how many first-run US/UK films he can buy on the streets for $0.25. No credit card required.

Didn't even have to click on the forum topic to know Leahy was involved. This guy is the worst when it comes to the Internet-related legislation.

I thought Vermont was full of happy hippies with a live and let live mentality. Who keeps electing this nanny?

Scary - how do they label something as "pirate"? Once you are labeled as such, is there a process to appeal it?
Unfortunately, the people creating the laws don't understand the subject matter. I think they only understand campaign contributions and kick backs.

Or maybe we should cut off support for politicians who work for the MPAA/RIAA. Patrick Leahy being the first among them.

BladeVenom said:

Or maybe we should cut off support for politicians who work for the MPAA/RIAA. Patrick Leahy being the first among them.

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THIS!