By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 -- 7:45 pm

Tags: audio, BitTorrent, Congress, enforcement, enforcement coordinator, felony penalties, intellectual property enforcement, law, law enforcement authorities, paper, united states trade representative, ustr report, wiretap authority

A white paper recently published by the White House's Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator urged Congress to make "illegal streaming" of content a felony and allow law enforcement to wiretap those suspected of being involved in copyright infringement.

Under current law, copyright infringement already carries felony penalties, but the 20-page white paper [PDF] noted that questions have been raised about whether broadcasting audio or video live over the Internet constitutes the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works.

The white paper called on Congress "to ensure that DOJ and U.S. law enforcement agencies are able to effectively combat infringement involving new technology" by clarifying that streaming unauthorized audio or video is a felony.

The white paper also recommended that Congress give law enforcement authorities the power to wiretap those suspected of being involved in criminal copyright and trademark offenses.

Read more here:  http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/16/white-house-calls-on-congress...