Gonzales wants to tighten piracy laws

THE US Justice Department wants to give MPAA and its chums in the entertainment industry even more of a leg up in their war with software and music pirates.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, says he has already boosted convictions and lengthened prison sentences.

Now he is sending a bill to Congress called the the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 which would toughen penalties for repeat offenders.

Gonzales says that this would "hit criminals in their wallets" by boosting restitution and ensuring all ill-gotten gains are forfeited.

He said that he will increase the number of attorneys trained to prosecute intellectual property (IP) crimes and to encourage more international cooperation in investigations.

He said that this was critical as the US moved to digital television. This will strike EU readers as a bit odd as it was not vital when we all moved over to digital television.

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