If somebody is shoplifting goods from a store, I'm all for catching the shoplifter. Reasonable security efforts by the storekeeper and police, and reasonable punishments once someone is caught and proven guilty, are part of the normal workings of society.
However, suppose that a shopkeeper subjects his customers to searches resembling the worst airport-gestapo horror stories we've been hearing, sends spies to search homes for possible stolen goods. Suppose further that the shopkeeper persuades the city council to enact life imprisonment for shoplifting, and lobbies for additional laws requiring everyone in town to wear special gloves that make it difficult to pick up objects.
In the latter case, I daresay that the neigbors are going to stop giving a rat's ass if he is robbed, and might well go so far as to cheer on the robbers. If they did not, they would be so pusillanimous as to make Trent Lott resemble King Leonidas by comparison.
The latter is the situation the recording industry has created for itself by attacking, not only real bootlegging, but legitimate fair-use copying for purposes of backup, time shifting, format conversion, etc, and by insisting upon draconian penalties for doing either against its wishes.
I guess first I should try to fathom how you extrapolated this fantasy scenario out of enforcing copyright law, which was written into the original Constitution.
The latter is the situation the recording industry has created for itself by attacking, not only real bootlegging, but legitimate fair-use copying for purposes of backup, time shifting, format conversion, etc, and by insisting upon draconian penalties for doing either against its wishes.
First of all, the situations you mentioned are already protected as fair use either by statute or by court ruling (in the case of time shifting). Secondly, I think far from being draconian, the recording industry has been far too patient with the massive looting of their product by PTP downloading. They're well within their rights to insist that the law be enforced and their legitimate copyright interests be protected.