Last Updated: Thursday, 28 April, 2005, 12:04 GMT 13:04 UKUS law targets online 'pirates'
People who "pirate" music and movies on the internet in the US face up to three years in jail under a new law signed by President Bush on Wednesday.
The bill targets file-sharers who put copies of new songs and films online before their commercial release.
It also introduces tough new penalties for anyone caught in a cinema filming a movie with a video camera.
The movie and music industries both complain that hi-tech piracy stops fans paying for their products.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said 90% of pirated films were "stolen" by people in cinemas with camcorders taping films to put online or on DVDs. They will also now face up to three years in jail.
MPAA president Dan Glickman said: "There is evidence that criminal gangs use this kind of theft to support and expand their criminal enterprises."
The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act also makes it easier for parents to prevent children seeing and hearing sex, violence and bad language on DVDs.
It protects companies such as ClearPlay, who provide "filters" to mute or skip offensive parts of films.
Film-makers had complained that such alterations violated their copyright - but the bill has made the companies exempt from copyright law.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4493519.stm
― Vambo, Saturday, 30 April 2005 02:23 (twenty years ago)
If the article linked to is describing the law correctly, it's a completely wasted law.
If you're offering (or, "uploading") copyrighted material on a p2p network, you're already committing criminal copyright infringement, which has a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.
So what the hell does this change?
― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 30 April 2005 02:55 (twenty years ago)
now, if you pull a cosmo kramer, they throw you in the slammer instead of just kicking you out of the theater. or so i understand.
― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Saturday, 30 April 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)
Yeah, that part is new... but the first part?
― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 30 April 2005 16:11 (twenty years ago)
"
Film-makers had complained that such alterations violated their copyright - but the bill has made the companies exempt from copyright law"
So this bill is protecting copyright laws by making certain people exempt from copyright law.
― Lingbertt, Saturday, 30 April 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)
Copyright isn't valid in regards to dirty words. D'uh.
I wonder if I could turn a ClearPlay machine into a file server. "Its exempt from copyright law!"
― Xii (Xii), Saturday, 30 April 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)
A group of FOX employees were busted back in Operation Fastlink (
http://www.cybercrime.gov ). About six or so of them were running a secret (obviously private) FTP site at the FOX Corporation and also distributing pre-release FOX movies.
I wonder if under this bill, they'd be exempt from criminal copyright infringement...
I wonder if they're thinking about that while they're sitting in prison right now...
― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 1 May 2005 03:23 (twenty years ago)