You might be breaking the law

The No Electronic Theft act makes it a crime to send any copyrighted material to someone or somewhere else. In effect, if you copy a picture from a copyrighted web site or software without permission, you are committing a crime. It was designed more for trying to catch people who copy DVDs or music and redistribute them. But some corporations, like the music industry companies, are using this law with zeal. Music companies have sued and won decisions against individuals for copying music.

HR4279 imposes stricter penalties for infringement. Law enforcement can actual seize property of suspected inf ringers. This law is akin to the drug enforcement laws that let law enforcement seize cars, houses, cash, computers, or any other property of suspected drug dealer. Sometimes these people do not get their property back even after they are proven Innocent or even if no charges are officially filed.

Then there is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA. This act makes it a crime to circumvent any copy protection. It does not matter if you do nothing else but break the copy protection. Also, this act makes it a crime to have in your possession any copy protection breaking tools. Just having these tools is a crime.

So watch out for those music downloads and reuse of those pictures from YouTube. If they find their way onto your organization's network, your network might be found in a different physical location and you might be looking out from behind bars. A little drastic I know and probably will not happen to you, but there have been wilder things to come on the evening news.