The recently-passed PRO-IP Act has been something those of us who consider ourselves true nerds have been paying close attention to for quite some time.  The bill is one of those wonderful backwards-thinking, corporate-pandering bills that the House passes from time to time just to prove they care about the Big Guy.  The Senate, for now, has better things to do than waste time trying to help the music industry make more money.

Some background from ARS:

The Pro-IP Act would establish a new copyright enforcement division with the Department of Justice and create a new position for a federal copyright enforcement czar. The bill would also enable law enforcement agents to seize property from copyright infringers. An earlier version of the bill would have allowed the content industry to collect damages for each track copied from a CD, but that provision was removed after coming under widespread criticism.

You should read the whole article, because it’s very informative, but basically the House of Representatives just made it possible for the police to swipe the computers of anyone who has ever illegally downloaded anything.

Righteous.