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From Boycott RIAA:

Michael Jackson on ACCOPS

"It is wrong to illegally download, but the answer cannot be jail."

So says Michael Jackson on the Berman / Conyers Computer Owner Protection and Security Act (ACCOPS). Under it, anyone uploading copyrighted material could land in jail for up to five and/or be fined up to $250,000.

Hollywood Howard Berman is, of course, so deeply mired in the machinations of the entertainment industry that he'll never see the light of day again. But there have been expressions of surprise at Conyers' involvement.

The two congressmen, both Democrats, introduced ACCOPS on July 16. But it's patently unenforceable.

How are you gong to throw 60 million people - the estimated number of file sharers, and most of them teenagers and students - into jail?

There's a intriguingly apt posting on the Ars Technica Newsdesk.

"It's a well known fact that in the US jails and prisons are filled with drug offenders, ranging all the way from hard core drug king pins to youths busted under the auspices of drug possession," says Ken Fisher. "The majority of those busted are often classified as 'non-violent offenders,' and its to these that people look when they want to criticize prison overcrowding.

"Well, a new problem may be coming our way, because some law makers are suggesting extremely stiff penalties for P2P use, including jail time.

"And the best part is, just as drug possession is classified by intent, measured through 'how much' someone has in their possession, this bill proposes that we assume criminal P2P activity and intent by simply multiplying 'damages' by 10."

Conyers was at the Sentencing Guidelines Symposium in 1997 and said although he understood and appreciated the original intent behind the creation of the guidelines - to create, "more uniformity and fairness in sentencing" - he had, "deep concerns" about them.

"I am particularly troubled by the Sentencing Guidelines involving drug offenses. It seems to me that we have overly harsh sentences for drug offenses, especially for non-violent drug offenders."

But it's OK to throw someone into jail for uploading Madonna's latest disaster.

"More Americans are using file sharing software than voted for President Bush in 2000," says Electronic Frontier Foundatin (EFF) laywer Jason Schultz. "Throwing the book at music swappers makes great political theater, but ... is not good business, nor does it put a single penny into the pockets of artists."

And speaking of artists, "Here in America we create new opportunities out of adversity, not punitive laws, and we should look to new technologies ... for solutions," Jackson is quoted as saying in a number of reports.