All Things Being Equal

In a post called "The Confluence of Online Dating, Copyright Law and Child Pornography," Feminist Law Professor Ann Bartow points out that evidentiary techniques for the courtroom worked on in online sexual predator and/or child pornographer cases are now being applied to those facing civil suits for file-sharing music that are being brought by the RIAA. She points to coverage of the first such trial in Wired magazine in which testimony by forensic experts and evidence that includes screen shots. Apparently a company called SafeNet, which also boasts of its government contracts, contracts with the record companies to direct sting operations. Those overly generous with their online music might have SafeNet peeking in their share folders to see what else is there.

The confluence of Copyright Law and Child Pornography is something that I've written about here before, in the case of Masha's Law, which equates the penalty for downloading an obscene image of a child with the same digital operation involving a copyrighted song.