Administration Seeks To Make Unauthorized Streaming A Felony
wabrandsma writes "From the Washington Post: 'You probably remember the online outrage over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) copyright enforcement proposal. Last week, the Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force released a report on digital copyright policy that endorsed one piece of the controversial proposal: making the streaming of copyrighted works a felony. As it stands now, streaming a copyrighted work over the Internet is considered a violation of the public performance right. The violation is only punishable as a misdemeanor, rather than the felony charges that accompany the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material.'"
They might as well make it a capital offense with a mandatory death penalty while they're at it.
This means that streaming a movie from an unauthorised source will be considered a more serious offense than vandalism, trespassing, simple assault and prostitution. Tag this one "overreaction, provoked, lobbyist, bad".
We are all criminals.
Won't this effectively make the posting of YouTube clips on websites / blogs / social media a felony also?
Sheesh.
Why not? Everything else is a felony. Heck, let's go the next step and just toss the entire population in jail.
What was the title of that book? Three Felonies a Day? By now, it's surely four or five...
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
The horrible transparency of the administration's agenda is staggering: fuck civil liberties; to hell with consumer rights; let's make civil infractions criminal offenses; let's use jackboot tactics to go after marijuana users; let's viciously and vindictively persecute those who try to expose government and corporate indiscretions by siccing our most petty, pea-brained people on them; let's lie, cheat, steal, bully, badger, and spy on everyone who could possibly be a threat. Essentially, the absolute primacy of government and corporate interests over individual rights. The only ones shittier are the Republicans, but not by much.
I honestly thought Obama would be different. Fuck me, right?!
Bieber spoke out against Klobuchar’s bill, saying the senator should be “locked up—put away in cuffs” while noting he personally thinks it is “awesome” when he sees fans uploading their own covers of his songs.
If Justin Bieber is against it, how can it ever pass?
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Traditionally the copyright system was to give authors the ability to impose civil liabilities on those who infringed upon their works. It was incumbent upon them to identify who was doing the infringing and file a legal action. Their lobby has shifted this burden onto the people by criminalizing copyright violations, effective turning our public law enforcement into their own private investigators on our dime.
Sine the general public won't likely accept my libertarian view that we should simply reduce the governments capacity to engage in law enforcement to the point where it /must/ focus only on seriously disruptive crimes. Let me get out of character and propose a TAX. Its only fair after all those who use the service should pay.
How about we say: Any entity that engages in the distribution, sale, or licensing of copyrighted works in the form of recorded music, finished films and movies, software, or long form narratives for a profit shall be subject to the copyright enforcement levy; with the exception of original authors engaging in a single one time transfer of all copyright associated with a work. Entities which meet this criteria shall be required to report what part of their revenues are associated with these activities. The tax rate shall be determined by the GAO estimate of costs incurred by federal law enforcement related to copyright enforcement. The tax rate shall not be less than 1% and shall not exceed 1000% of the revenues upon which it is levied. (And get broad public support) proceeds from this tax level shall be used to provide scholarships to low income college students.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
My emails are my works, I never authorised the NSA to stream them anywhere, let's throw them all into jail.
Should stop buying American music, movies and whatever other junk they are selling. Stay on your fucking island.
Administration Seeks To Make Unauthorized Streaming A Felony
Which administration would that be?
For the sense-of-humour impaired, I'm being facetious.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
"rather than the felony charges that accompany the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material"
Such a thing should always have remained a civil matter between the copyright owners and the infringers, and for the state to get involved and come down more heavily than on even parking infringements is IMHO a perversion of justice.
I believe the word "unauthorised" is being taken as read in the article, summary, and most people's brains. Also, I couldn't find mention of exactly who the new law was targeting - the stream provider or the stream audience.
This bill is going to do nothing but help those Hollywood liberals that are destroying America. You want nothing to do with it.
(just trying to help kill this thing)
I am officially gone from
Does that make me a felon? (Not counting the number of laws I have inadvertently broken in this screwed up country).
Silence is a state of mime.