"[...] While the entertainment industry has had some recent setbacks in its fight against piracy in the courts and in Congress, it has a new ally in John Ashcroft, who recently pledged to make cracking down on copyright violators a top priority.
On Tuesday, the attorney general released a report from the Department of Justice's Intellectual Property Task Force that outlines plans to beef up enforcement of copyright violations.
'With the recommendations put forward by the task force, the department is prepared to build the strongest, most aggressive legal assault against intellectual property crime in our nation's history,' Ashcroft said in a statement.
Those recommendations include increasing the number of FBI agents to sniff out copyright violators, better training programs for prosecutors and law enforcement officers who investigate such offenses, and increasing cooperation between businesses and individuals affected by such theft.
The report (.pdf) - which covers copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks and patents - also says that those who benefit most from this theft "are criminals, and alarmingly, criminal organizations with possible ties to terrorism. [...]"
Hmm ... you can ride any horse to death. Reason and "common sense" should be allowed to prevail. IP is a sensible concept which should not be harmed by overstretching. Possible political shortfalls caused by such rigour are easily imaginable.
Katie Dean 
not be harmed by overstretching. Possible political shortfalls caused by such rigour are