Question: If I make a screen-cap of a bug or issue in some software that I'm using, and then post it on my blog, should I go to jail for copyright violation? Could I go to jail for copyright violation?

Under proposed changes to give the dreaded (and INSANE) DMCA  more fangs -  such a scenario MIGHT eventually occur. All the creator of the software would need to do was charge that the image of their software was copyrighted, and that it was worth > $1000 and I could be in seriously hot water -  facing 5-10 years for copyright violation.

Read more and tell me that I'm just being paranoid.

One of my favorite snippits (regarding the latest discovery of yet ANOTHER Sony root-kit) :

Jessica Litman, who teaches copyright law at Wayne State University, views the DMCA expansion as more than just a minor change. "If Sony had decided to stand on its rights and either McAfee or Norton Antivirus had tried to remove the rootkit from my hard drive, we'd all be violating this expanded definition," Litman said.

Likewise, any user attempting to remove that rootkit on their own would be violating a law packing 10 years of punishment - whether they succeeded or not. (i.e. just TRYING to remove copyright protection would be a crime, whether you succeeded or not - and in the case of these rootkits, you wouldn't be allowed to even DISCUSS removing them from your machine without technically breaking the law.)

But I'll say one thing: You've got to hand it to our politicians - they're the best that money can buy...