No, for real. I just said that. The Bush Admin is pushing back against a proposal to make the Department of Justice de facto copyright cops at the beck and call of private industry. Why would the RIAA spend its own money chasing college kids trading songs when they could get the taxpayer to foot the bill?
The government agencies wrote that the proposal “could result in Department of Justice prosecutors serving as pro bono lawyers for private copyright holders regardless of their resources. In effect, taxpayer-supported department lawyers would pursue lawsuits for copyright holders, with monetary recovery going to industry.”
In all, the Bush administration agreed with digital rights groups and others who said the measure goes too far and is a gift to copyright holders who normally use the civil courts to sue copyright infringers.
This is an issue on which you can count on both sides of the aisle to demonstrate some seriously bad judgment (which is probably putting it too kindly). Sen. Leahy, for example, is a very smart fellow, but his record on copyright issues is truly appalling (you can thank him and Orrin Hatch for the DMCA).