News.com is reporting the submission of a new bill into the House of Representatives that would allow entertainment groups the legal right to hack into personal computers and even disable them if they had a "reasonable basis" to believe that piracy is occurring. Here are snips from this alarming report:

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C., would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from all state and federal laws if they disable, block or otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer file-trading network."

"The bill is a nightmare," said Mark Lemley, who teaches intellectual property law at the University of California at Berkeley. "I am amazed that after Sept. 11, members of Congress are willing to sacrifice our nation's computer security in order to give Hollywood yet another tool in its already formidable arsenal against piracy."

Lemley predicted that the practical effect of the bill would be to eliminate peer-to-peer networking. "If content owners can shut down a network with impunity, they may stop some piracy, but they will also stop any hope of using this important new technology for legitimate means," he said.

You can read the full text of the bill yourself at PoliTechBot.

I'm sorry, but i may be the only one who cares about stuff like this; but when did copyrights supercede supersede civil rights?

Congress, you can eat shit.