In this article, Hoakes explains that It’s a Wonderful Life was one of the eight movies in 1947 that the FBI investigated for subversive and communist undertones. The three categories that determine a subversive film were:
        I. Values or institutions judged to be particularly American are smeared or presented as evil in a movie.
        II. Values or institutions deemed to be particularly anti-American or pro-Communist are glorified in a movie.
        III. Casual references to current events are made that either belittle American political institutions or promote the Communist party line.
The FBI claimed that It’s a Wonderful Life contained elements of the first two categories. As the film demonizes Potter and discredits the banking system, it violates category I. As the rights of the common man are glorified and defended, it violates category II. However, Noakes explains that these two claims are not accurate. The film does not negatively portray capitalism; it depicts two forms of capitalism (Bailey and Potter) and supports the version that focuses on small business and the working class. Focusing on the working class, however, does not make it a communist film. Instead it focuses on the home owning rights of the working class, a strictly capitalist belief.
    This article is notable because it stresses George Bailey’s positive influence in his community. He is practicing a more proper and humane form of capitalism. While there are those that view Potter and big business as the basis of American capitalism, Bailey and Capra remind the viewer that the common man is equally important to the running of the economy. The film calls for neither socialism nor communism. Bailey acts out of his own charitable will to help individuals afford a home. In doing so, he ensures that there will be happy customers and happy workers in the economy.

Noakes, John A. "Bankers and Common Men in Bedford Falls: How the FBI Determined That 'It's a Wonderful Life' Was a Subversive Movie." Film History 10.3, The Cold War and the Movies (1998), pp. 311-319

JSTOR keyword: 'it's a wonderful life' - first document

FBI shut down the unauthorized computer game server L2Extreme, which hosted the NCSoft MMORPG Lineage II. Owners of L2Extreme provided its 50,000 active users with service and code for the online game for a fee. NCSoft claimed millions of dollars of annual loss due to this illegal service. L2Extreme operated pirated server software copied from the NCSoft server software. Users then registered with L2Extreme to play Lineage II instead of using NCSoft’s servers.

The financial effect is of course significant, but NCSoft also had to defend its intellectual property rights. The case, at first glance, is similar to the Blizzard v. BnetD case. However, BnetD reverse engineered the Blizzard server software without direct infringement on the original software. It was a fair use copy with no copyright violation involved. Contrarily, L2Extreme simply pirated the software from NCSoft. In addition, L2Extreme was a profitable business whereas BnetD was fueled by volunteer game enthusiasts. Otherwise, the details of both cases seem very similar.

Comparing the Blizzard v. BnetD case with this event, it becomes clear that seemingly minor details are in fact the deciding factors in many copyright decisions. In one, the FBI abruptly closed down operation without proper legal decision whereas in the other, the original game company could not persuade the court of any wrongdoing on the defendant’s part. Noticeably, intellectual property laws and their applications to the game industry remains a relatively new field. Hence, it is difficult to pinpoint what is right and what is wrong. Perhaps the single greatest law which many intellectual property and gaming related cases are based on is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. However, there are many critics of the DMCA simply because of some of the consequences of invoking the Act. It remains to be seen how long the DMCA can last before undergoing major renovations. Much of that is derived from the evolutionary nature of gaming, where much change can occur in just a few years. Laws that are applicable in one year may become outdated the next year. This is the inevitable change of technology.

"This blog consists of items selected from more than 1,000 pages of reports filed by FBI agents watching my grandfather, Manny Cantor, a member of the Communist Party in New Jersey between the years 1932 and 1956. FBI surveillance of his activites began three weeks after Pearl Harbor and continued periodically until his death in 2003. All materials presented as they appear in the FBI files."

Gotta get me one of these!!!