Lobbyists representing the RIAA hoped to make it legal for
copyright owners to hack into computer networks in search of
copyright infringing material and to destroy any such material
found.
The proposed amendment read:
"No action may be brought under this
subsection arising out of any impairment of the availability of
data, a program, a system or information, resulting from measures
taken by an owner of copyright in a work of authorship, or any
person authorised by such owner to act on its behalf, that are
intended to impede or prevent the infringement of copyright in such
work by wire or electronic communication; provided that the use of
the work that the owner is intending to impede or prevent is an
infringing use."
In any event, the RIAA’s attempt to attach the above words
failed, but not before they faced public and industry criticism for
seeking to legalise these covert and dubious methods of defending
copyright at all costs.
