Unbelievably, activist legislators have topped their own lunacy. Having failed to bring down file-sharing networks for providing an environment in which copyright infringement might occur (rather like libraries), Orrin Hatch and his henchmen are set to introduce the Induce Act to the Senate next week. The bill's name stands for "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act," and the gist is that any technology or device which induces copyright infringement would be rendered illegal. Currently, the law protects technology which has some legal uses, even if those legal uses are outweighed by the possibility of illegal use. This point has saved P2P networks in numerous courtroom battles. From CNET—

"Foes of the Induce Act said that it would effectively overturn the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in the Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios case, often referred to as the "Betamax" lawsuit. In that 5-4 opinion, the majority said VCRs were legal to sell because they were "capable of substantial noninfringing uses." But the majority stressed that Congress had the power to enact a law that would lead to a different outcome.

"Though the Induce Act is not yet public, critics are already attacking it as an unjustified expansion of copyright law that seeks to regulate new technologies out of existence."

From the EFF—

"Even a moment's reflection should make the danger to innovators clear — you now have to worry not just about contributory and vicarious liability, but an entirely new form of liability for building tools that might be misused. It will be interesting to see whether the bill expressly precludes any Betamax-type defense. This may also pose First Amendment problems, to the extent a journalist or website publisher might be liable for simply posting information about where infringement tools might be found or how to use them.

"It's the Hollings Bill by other means — an over-reaching new form of indirect liability that will force technology companies of all kinds to "ask permission" before innovating for fear of ruinous litigation if they don't.

"And so another front in the copyright wars opens, with the aggressors waving the bloody flag of file sharing, but really aiming at a much bigger target."

The bill itself is a short addendum to the copyright code. See it here.