[Quote:]

Germans risk two years in prison if they illegally download films and music for private use under a new law agreed yesterday. Anybody who downloads films for commercial use could be jailed for up to five years.

The measures, some of the toughest in Europe, were announced after an aggressive campaign by the film industry in Germany, the largest market in the EU and one of the most computer-literate populations.

[..]

Günther Krings, the Christian Democrat legal affairs spokesman, said: There should be no legal distinction between stealing chewing gum from a shop and performing an illegal download.

I didn’t know kids were getting jailed for two years when they steal a pack of gum…

This law is insane – if “downloading copyright material” is enough to get you in jail, any german clicking this link is now eligible for a bunk in a prison.

Germany’s is the first government that has officially conceded to all lobbyism efforts on behalf of the industry and adopted a policy that supports the industry’s demands fully while completely disregarding the rights and needs of its citizens.

This can no longer be attributed to “goodwill” towards the industry and stupidity alone, corruption is the word you’re looking for.

(but to end on a funny note, can we now rewrite this arcicle and measure the new speed in “years of jailtime per second”?)