According to CNET, "President Obama is continuing to fill the senior ranks of the U.S. Department of Justice with the copyright industry's favorite lawyers" with the selection of Donald Verrilli, from the Verrilli Family, el Señor Presidente's latest acquisition.

Verrilli is the guy who shut down Grokster, sued Google on behalf of Viacom, and sued the pants out of Jammie Thomas in the name of the Recording Industry Association of America, that bunch of nice lovely assholes. His new position at the Department of Justice? Associate deputy attorney general.

This follows up the naming of Tom Perrelli, from the Perrelli Family, as associate attorney general, the third-in-command post at the DoJ. Perrelli was and probably still is the favorite lawyer of the RIAA, suing people and companies left, right, and center in the name of the recording gang. He will be in charge of the DoJ's civil, antitrust, and civil rights division.

But don't go away, because there's more. Who is the deputy attorney general, the second in command at the DoJ, do you ask? Mr. David Ogden, who-according to his previous job's biography-represents "media and Internet industries, as well as major trade and professional associations." He also as "part of the department who successfully defended the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act before the U.S. Supreme Court."

Not enough? Don't worry, because the VP has other friends in other places. Take Neil MacBride, another associate deputy attorney general, who previously was an aide to Biden himself. MacBride was the king of the legal hill at the Business Software Association. As the BSA's antipiracy enforcer and general counsel, MacBride oversaw the creation of the program that rewarded people for phoning tips about suspected software piracy.

All these picks follow President Obama's words, announcing that these people "bring the integrity, depth of experience and tenacity that the Department of Justice demands in these uncertain times." It also comes after his words as presidential candidate, asking for less restrictions and less power for the recording industry.

Surprised? We are not. After all, there's a pattern here. Mr. Clinton was the one who signed the DMCA. And the president of the RIAA reportedly only contributes to Democratic politicians and causes. Not that the Republicans are any better in this front, mind you.

In any case, you know what we think about the recording industry and these issues.

And no, this is not making us happy bunnies. [CNET]

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, the Justice Department has sent back evidence that law enforcement officials can use Triggerfish pretty much whenever they want, without consulting the phone companies. This looks like the use of was could most charitably be called a giant goddamn loophole: secret Triggerfish deployment is OK because it only provides its users with rough location data by pairing serial numbers, phone numbers and other identifiers to a particular tower, rather than the actual content of conversations. The moral problems here are multifaceted, but the practical ones for, you know, fugitives, are easily solved: turn off your phone. You're welcome! [Ars]

DoJ's logic for throwing an "attempted" copyright infringer in the slammer for 1-10 years? "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so." Other "intent" clauses are strewn throughout the bill. Hit the jump to make your eyes pop out of your head.

The new legislation gives more teeth to the DMCA as well, adding forfeiture penalties on top of the 10-year sentence and $1 million fine for criminal violations of its anti-circumvention clauses.

It gets better. The Department of Homeland Security will directly notify the RIAA when pirated CDs are imported and intercepted by the government. Your computer, or anything else "intended to be used in any manner" for criminal copyright infringement is subject to forfeiture, on top of fines and jail time.

And CNET says it best here: "Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights." I'm glad it's not super easy now or anything. Oh wait.

The DoJ press release's highlights:

• Provide stronger penalties for repeat-offenders of the copyright laws;
• Implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability to forfeit property derived from or used in the commission of criminal intellectual property offenses;
• Strengthen restitution provisions for certain intellectual property crimes (e.g., criminal copyright and DMCA offenses);
• Ensure that the exportation and transhipment of copyright-infringing goods is a crime, just as the exportation of counterfeit goods is now criminal.

Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement [CNET via Consumerist]
Press Release [DoJ]
Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 [Politechbot]