This is some sad stuff. Apparently some of our bought-and-paid-for-Senators are introducing the Pirate Act for the fourth time. In essence, they want the Justice Department to handle the business of suing P2P pirates on behalf of the music and movie industries.

The Justice Department would instigate civil suits under this law. There's only one greater waste of law enforcement manpower I can think of, and that's staking out bathrooms for toe tapping.

The Pirate Act enjoys strong support from large copyright holders. The Recording Industry Association of America said on Wednesday: "We commend Senators Leahy and Cornyn for their commitment and leadership to ensuring improved enforcement of IP protection."

And Dan Glickman, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, said the Pirate Act will "strengthen the government's law enforcement resources to crack down on intellectual property theft."

Oddly, though, the Justice Department has been less than enthusiastic about the measure in the past. One top department official said a few years ago that the idea is "something that people should take with a grain of salt"--and while "the Justice Department is there to enforce the law, there's something to be said for those who help themselves."