From the virtual desk of Declan McCullagh: Congress readies broad new digital copyright bill (CNET):

For the last few years, a coalition of technology companies, academics and computer programmers has been trying to persuade Congress to scale back the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Now Congress is preparing to do precisely the opposite. A proposed copyright law seen by CNET News.com would expand the DMCA's restrictions on software that can bypass copy protections and grant federal police more wiretapping and enforcement powers.

This bill likens copyright infringers to terrorists, and would make it a federal offense even to talk about ways of violating copyright. For some background on what the DMCA has done for us so far, see this report published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The idea that such an abomination to free speech could even be considered speaks volumes of the power of corporate lobbiests - when will the American people wake up and demand the end of this crooked institution?

Update: See this coverage at IPac Action.