This will go nowhere. I am sure anything they COULD come up with to fry your motherboard could easily be killed by commercial firewalls and anti-virus software.
Hell, if they could figure out that you were downloading something, and had enough information to bomb your computer, why can't they just fine you? Show up at your house and arrest you?
Besides, I am damned sure there would be some serious Constitution issues here. And what if they accidentally blow away a computer in Canada? Sweden?
Besides, wouldn't it be an illegal search and seizure for them to even find this stuff out? With most of your peer to peer software, there is no central network, hence no company who can give the government info on its customers.
Originally posted by spf2119...if they believe a copyright is being violated.
And there's the key point.
Not if they _prove_ in a court of law that a copyright is being violated; if they _suspect_ that a copyright is being violated. No warrant, no burden of proof, no restitution if they screw up and whack something by accident.
The phrase "hot oil enema" should become a recurring theme in Orrin Hatch's daily routine.
"You may be wondering why I have been making so many references lately to Fox News. The reason is that it is now my cable news network of choice -- because if I’m going to watch the news and be lied to, I want it to be ridiculously obvious that I am being lied to." -- Center for an Informed America, Newsletter #34
Y'know, when we've got the NORAD computer playing Tic Tac Toe against itself to forestall nuclear armageddon I really hope someone turns to Hatch and just says . . ."Dumbass."
This is almost as bad as that NJ law that says only "smart guns" can be sold within 3 years," when the tech is at least 20 years away.
. . .and does this mean that someone could fry computers in the White House when they catch the First Family DL'ing dog porn?
-LS "ahhh...vague, mandatory knee-jerk cynicism. God Bless Internet Forums.."
In a way, this is a brilliant idea by Orrin: By destroying people's computers, it'll mean people will have to buy new computers. Thus, Silicon Valley will be back in boom mode as demand rises as computers Unibomb by the millions. Either that, or Orrin is becoming senile.
"I'm going to fill a dark awful basement with radioactive cockroaches. Yep. Big nasty ones like skateboards on legs, that go click-click-click when they walk. And maybe poisonous. I'm going to starve them for a week.
Then I'm going to catch all the coercive priss-spigots in the world, the ones that want to ban second-hand smoke and dwarf-tossing and beer. I'll smear the rascals with bacon fat, so the roaches won't know what they're eating, as otherwise they might not.
Then I'm going to toss all those greased busybodies into the basement. And whoop. And dance. Ha." - Fred Reed