Bill s.978

Klyka here. I don't really post on this blog, if at all, however I do have something that I do think you all should know about a bill that is currently in the Senate right now. Namely Bill s.978: To amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes.

Now what does this bill mean? Lets look a little closer at whats inside.

SECTION 1. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT.

(a) Amendments to Section 2319 of Title 18- Section 2319 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)--

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

‘(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if--

‘(A) the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and

‘(B)(i) the total retail value of the performances, or the total economic value of such public performances to the infringer or to the copyright owner, would exceed $2,500; or

‘(ii) the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000;’; and

(2) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

‘(2) the terms ‘reproduction’, ‘distribution’, and ‘public performance’ refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1), (3), (4), and (6), respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;’.

(b) Amendment to Section 506 of Title 17- Section 506(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’ the first place it appears; and

(2) in paragraph (3)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘unauthorized distribution’; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’.

Under this bill, streaming any copy-written media will be considered a felony. It does matter if you put a song in a Youtube video, threw an old movie on Livestream, or even just streamed yourself playing some video games. Under this bill you would be considered a Felon and would be treated as such.

Beyond this Video Game Streams can be big business. I know people who make a living making Machinima, Lets Plays, and many other things. Their business' cannot survive this bill.

Now I honestly don't want to get into a talk about copyrights and piracy (maybe some other time?) . But I do believe this bill does not represent anything along the lines of fair justice. I encourage you all to write, call, or even visit your congressmen/woman to talk about this bill.

Don't live in The United States of America? This bill still affects you. The United States of America has a controlling interest in the internet and thus policy. I encourage you to send this bill around to everyone you know. Make sure they all know about it and what harm it can do.


This is Klyka, signing out.

EDIT: It seems the guys over at Demand Progress, who are much more eloquent than I have even made something that will even expidite the process of sending a letter about your feelings to this bill. Go on and check them out.