My point is that when the punishment far outstrips the crime -- then the law is unjust and needs to be changed. Penalties like this will lead to the dismantling of copyright protection not an enhancement of copyright protection.

I am for intellectual property protection more than most -- my software was stolen, de-compiled and used by a former company that did sales for me back in 1990. It cost me $25,000 to get basically nothing back. I want protection. But if a penalty for a crime is going to ruin someone for life, I think we need to step back and say "whoa, This ain't right".

No one is arguing that it is not a crime, just that the penalties were drawn up in a different era and don't match the crime in question.

I think drug laws are meant to protect society -- but all I see is a ballooning prison population with no positive effects for society.

"Good science comes in peer reviewed journals. Conspiracy theories come in YouTube videos. "
Kevin @ bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh