-Caveat Lector-

Lawyers financing & lobbying congress to crack down on P2P users...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 02:46:44 -0400
From: Declan McCullagh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: FC: Where "anti-P2P pirate" congresscritters get their money

Previous Politech message:

"Text of letter to Ashcroft wanting jail for P2P pirates"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03872.html

---

Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 00:59:45 -0400
From: Jim Knoble <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Declan McCullagh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: FC: Text of letter to Ashcroft wanting jail for P2P pirates

Circa 2002-Aug-10 18:39:39 -0400 dixit Declan McCullagh:

: I've placed the congressional letter to Attorney General Ashcroft here:
: http://www.politechbot.com/docs/congress.p2p.letter.081002.pdf

Among the signatories:

   - Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), Senate Judiciary Committee.
     From 1997 to 2002, the Los Angeles metro area is his fourth-largest
     source of campaign contributions.  And Beverly Hills, CA 90210 is
     the fifth largest zip code contributor, beating out several zips in
     Senator Biden's home state of Delaware.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.asp?CID=N00001669&cycle=2002

     Although his primary contributions come from, in order, the law
     "industry", real estate, and finance/credit companies (MBNA
     Corporation, based in Wilmington, Delaware, being the single
     largest contributor by a fair margin), the contribution from the
     TV/film/music industry fell from 8th highest (1995-2000) to 12th
     place (1997-2002).
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00001669&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00001669&cycle=2000
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00001669&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime,
     Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
     The law "industry" has been his third largest contributor between
     2001 and 2002.  TV/film/music made it in the top 14.  The National
     Cable Television Association is in Rep. Smith's top ten individual
     contributors.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00001811&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00001811&cycle=2002

   - Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee.
     Between 2001 and 2002, the TV/film/music industry was his top
     campaign contributor, with the law "industry" running a close second.
     Among the top 20 individual contributors are the National Cable
     Television Association, Viacom, Walt Disney, Vivendi Universal, and
     the Motion Picture Association of America.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00004291&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00004291&cycle=2002

   - Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Judiciary Committee.
     From 2001 to 2002, his campaign contributions came first from the
     TV/film/music industry, and second from the law "industry".  Amid
     the top individual contributors are: Walt Disney, Viacom, AOL Time
     Warner, and MGM Mirage.  The Association of Trial Lawyers of
     America was his top individual contributor.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00004029&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00004029&cycle=2002

     Almost half of Rep. Conyers' top metropolitan-area contributions
     came from the Los Angeles area.  The top three zip codes
     contributing are Beverly Hills (90212), Beverly Hills (90210), and
     Los Angeles (90046).  West Hollywood, California (90069) is
     seventh, and three other Los Angeles zip codes appear in the top 20
     zip codes.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.asp?CID=N00004029&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), Chairman, House Judiciary Subcommittee on
     Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
     The top two industries contributing to Rep. Coble between 2001 and
     2002 are the law "industry" and TV/film/music.  The top individual
     contributor is the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; also in
     the top 20 contributors are the Recording Industry Association of
     America, the National Association of Broadcasters, ASCAP, the
     National Cable Television Association, the American Intellectual
     Property Law Association, and Viacom.  (Disclosure: I live in North
     Carolina, but do not live in Rep. Coble's congressional district).
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00002247&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00002247&cycle=2002

   - Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
     From 1997 to 2002, the law "industry" was first in campaign
     contributions, and the TV/film/music industry was fourth.  Top
     individual contributors include Walt Disney, AOL Time Warner, and
     Vivendi Universal.  Walt Disney and AOL Time Warner are in the top
     seven.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00007364&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00007364&cycle=2002

     Not surprisingly, most of Sen. Feinstein's campaign contributions
     came from her home state of Califiornia, although one New York, NY,
     zipcode (10023) is among the top four contributing zipcodes.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.asp?CID=N00007364&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL).
     The law "industry" and the TV/film/music industry are in Rep.
     Hyde's top nine contributing industries during 2001-2002.  ASCAP is
     among his top ten individual contributors.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00004702&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00004702&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA).
     Between 2001 and 2002, the TV/film/music industry was his second
     largest contributing industry.  The law "industry" was fourth.
     Walt Disney was Rep. Goodlatte's third largest individual
     contributor; also in the top 20 are ASCAP, the National Association
     of Broadcasters, Viacom, and Vivendi Universal.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009154&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00009154&cycle=2002

   - Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR).
     The law "industry" is his third largest contributing industry
     during 1997-2002.  Among the top individual contributors are the
     Association of Trial Lawyers of America (fourth) and ... Enron
     (second).
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00007815&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00007815&cycle=2002

     The Los Angeles metropolitan area is the fourth largest
     contributing metropolitan area.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.asp?CID=N00007815&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL).
     The law "industry" is Rep. Wexler's second largest contributing
     industry from 2001 to 2002.  TV/film/music is a distant 15th.
     Among the top 16 individual contributors are the Association of
     Trial Lawyers of America (top three), ASCAP, and the Recording
     Industry Association of America.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00002905&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00002905&cycle=2002

   - Rep. William Jenkins (R-TN).
     During 2001-2002, Rep. Jenkins' top contributing industries
     included the law "industry" (second) and TV/film/music (fourth).
     His top thirteen individual contributors include the National
     Association of Broadcasters, ASCAP, and the Association of Trial
     Lawyers of America (third).
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00003202&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00003202&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
     From 2001 to 2002, campaign contributions came from the
     TV/film/music industry (fourth) and the law "industry" (first).
     Among the top seven individual contributors:  Walt Disney and the
     Association of Trial Lawyers of America (second).
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009585&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00009585&cycle=2002

   - Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL).
     Between 2001 and 2002, the top industries contributing to Rep.
     Keller's campaign include the law "industry" (fourth) and
     TV/film/music (ninth).  The top individual contributor is Walt
     Disney.
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009614&cycle=2002
     http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00009614&cycle=2002

Of the remaining signatories, all have the law "industry" in the top
ten contributing industries for the most recent period listed on
opensecrets.org.  Several have the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America as a top individual contributor.

I thoroughly expected to find the signatory list littered with campaign
contributions from the TV/film/music industry.  What i did not expect
to find was an even greater entanglement with campaign financing from
the law "industry", especially from the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America.

Does anyone else find it disturbing that all of the senators and
representatives asking Attorney General Ashcroft for "[i]ncreased
criminal enforcement" are financed by the very---perhaps the
only---people who stand to make money off from such increased
prosecution?  Law "industry" indeed....

--
jim knoble  |  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  |  http://www.pobox.com/~jmknoble/
(GnuPG fingerprint: 31C4:8AAC:F24E:A70C:4000::BBF4:289F:EAA8:1381:1491)




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