Senate Unanimously Passes Anti-Camcorder Bill

jamonterrell writes "The US Senate just unanimously passed a bill allowing the criminal prosecution of recording movies with a camcorder in theatres. Victims of the new bill would face 3 years in prison on first offense (5 if it was done for profit), repeat offenders would get 10 years. As a side note, it will cost taxpayers an additional 5 million dollars per year through 2009 for enforcement." Several states have made recording in theaters a crime, although none of them have penalties nearly as harsh as this Senate bill.

Comments

Re:makes Ralph Nader more attractive

[Greyfox]

You'd think the Democratic party would already have thought long and hard about this and coughed up someone with more charisma than... any of the crop of candidates they came up with. Though I could vote a Kerry/McCain ticket without flinching. Not that either of those two guys seem inclined to go that route...

However, just because the top election is between the lesser of two evils doesn't mean you have to vote a straight ticket. Go ahead and vote for the granola hippies in the local and Congressional ones. We had several third parties win the last round of elections at the local level here. If they prove they can be responsible in those roles, they might even start to take some more responsible positions in the future.

As for pissing in the Republicans' coffee, maybe the next $10 you spend on a movie should be for Michael Moore's "Farenheit 9/11." And take a friend. I think it'd make the Republicans very nervous if that movie ended up with sky-high box office grosses. They've certainly been working hard enough to stamp it out.

Still no cure for cancer

[Ryosen]

>>How does the person sitting next to you in the cinema feel about this....

Probably not all that great since once you have been arrested, if your neighbor did not turn you in, he could be charged as an accessory.

Just remember, folks, that this is the sort of problems that our appointed leaders are spending their time and energy (and your tax money) on. Not on fixing the economy, not on getting us out of a ficticious war, not on improving healthcare or our general way of life. But making the world safe for movie-goers and **AA members alike.

You get the government that you (do or don't) vote for.

Re:Still no cure for cancer

[Ryosen]

I wasn't aware that I had raised an objection. In fact, I don't have any objections to it, other than the fact that it is a matter better left to the states - one that does not merit federal enforcement. The point of my post is that this is a waste of resources and a distraction (or is it an excuse) from the more pertinent problems facing this country.

As for "overstuffing trolls", you truly are deluded if you think that the invasion of Iraq is "just" and "handsomely won". The fact that even after two years, after the evidence that has surfaced that (surprise, surprise) there were no weapons, there was no connection to Al-Qaeda, and there was no imminent threat to the US, suggests that you are either naiive, misinformed, uneducated or, how did you put it, oh yes, a "sheeple" yourself. The basis of this was is simple: profiteering. Don't believe everything that Fox News and Ann Coulter tells you. You have been lied to. A simple Google search will open your eyes.

You assertion that the economy is working just fine...How fortunate you are to not be affected by the worst economic conditions that the US has seen in 70 years. Take a look around this forum, however, and you will see that not everyone has been as lucky as you.

As for your statement that you "dread the thought of the Government taking interest in affecting my way of life" and how that relates to healthcare, you overlook the fact that it is the Government that has allowed the US healthcare system to get into the sad condition that it is. If they insist on regulating it (and by that I mean deriving tax revenue from it and demanding even more tax revenue to support it) then they had better well take care of it. They have assumed the responsibility of its management - they are responsible for it. If you think that the healthcare system is doing great, then you are either not providing insurance for your family with premiums that easily exceed $1,000 a month, you are oblivious to the realities of insurance costs since your employer pays for it (it still costs you but it's difficult to do the math when your eyes are held so tightly shut), or you are still on your parents' policy.

>> predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

This seems to be exactly what the government is doing. Not so much in enacting a camcorder law (it's theft, no matter what the silly kiddies who paid their $10 and want to time-shift a theatrical exhibition might tell you) but in the daily reduction in our civil liberties (as in speech and general freedom, not mp3s). As right as a law like this is, it still does not excuse the fact that interests of the entertainment industry continue to take priority over more important national concerns. For Christ's sake, it's fucking television! That is what it amounts to. MP3s, CSS, broadcast bits...all federally regulated and it's just TELEVISION.

People are dying, the country's debt is rising at a rate that cannot be repaid, states are going bankrupt (yes, read the news), taxes and laws are being introduced that are robbing future revenues as far as 40 years ahead...it's great that you think you are doing well and that the economy "Works fine, thank you very much", but your kids are going to be in for a world of hurt when they get punished for the current legislature's greed, deceit and misguided actions and your naivity and unearned trust in that legislature. And you don't see that the government's priorities are screwed up?

This is not flamebait. This is not a troll. This is life. Welcome to it. Sign in please.