Bill S.978 - Ban on Streaming Copyrighted Content

[Bbop800]

I'm not sure if this would be considered a debatable topic, so I'll leave in the general discussion forum.

Anyways, I first heard of this "Bill S.978" in a random Youtube comment. The person claims that this bill will ban the streaming of ANY copyrighted content, including movies, TV shows, music, and even video games. And according to a lot of videos on Youtube and Google searches, this is very true. See it for yourself:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s978/show

Makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Illegal streaming of copyrighted content is defined in the bill as an offense that "consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works" and has a total economic value, either to the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500.

Now I can clearly see where this is coming from. People are posting movies and TV shows for free all of the time, and it seems perfectly fair to make it something that is illegal.

However, let's say I made an SRB2 video with some random copyrighted song on it. THAT would be considered against the law, with just the copyrighted music alone. The other major issue with this is video games, which are clearly copyrighted by their respected owners. So basically any streaming or commentary or "let's play" of any copyrighted video game would be considered against the law.

Not only is the bill itself ridiculously strict in a number of ways, but it comes with a serious penalty. This includes, at most, up to five years in prison. So if this bill DOES get passed, then say goodbye to watching video game commentaries/footage on the internet, and listening to copyrighted music on ANY videos ever again. I'm just gonna hope this bill doesn't even get passed, as it sounds so ludicrous.

Now I may be overreacting about this, since I know very little about this so far, but quite a lot of videos on Youtube are freaking about this whole thing. I think this guy pretty much summarizes it up nicely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hytigOSjJxc

Edit: Now I know there is a small chance of this getting passed, but the only thing I'm concerned is what if this bill happens to somehow get passed anyway? That's what I'd like to discuss here.

So yeah, feel free to discuss.

 

[Sonnarkku]

...And that's when living in an underdeveloped country actually shows it's good side, I don't have to worry about any of those laws being implemented here.

Either way, these "anti piracy" laws are stupid, not the internet's already become a massive network with free software, trying to block it now doesn't seem like a factible idea.

 

[TDM]

Oddly enough, I recall someone mentioning that the bill itself is unconstitutional. I'm not exactly brushed up on the Constitution, so could someone tell me which Article or Amendment they would be invoking?

 

[Dark Metal]

Would that make Srb2 illegal because Sonic is copyrighted? Good bye Crystal Stars Studio X( It is also at an early stage so things could end well.

 

[Gemini Spark]

I'm not liking that bill one bit. Many of my favorite mashups would get nerfed, fansubs would get axed, adaptations, abriged versions, nico nico chorus versions, VG commentaries, Let's Plays, manga scanlations, all sorts of stuff would be gone. YouTube would pretty much lose almost all purpose in existing, and other sites would be completely shut down. People are right in worrying about this, it's a pretty ridiculous bill that really shouldn't get passed.

 

[K.S.]

Hey guys, do me a favor and stop panicking over the worst-case scenario, okay? It's not likely to happen.

 

[Mystic]

I would like to remind you all that piracy is already illegal. Fansubs and scanlations have been illegal since their inception. SRB2 and all fangames are trademark violations and if the owner of the trademark wants us shut down, all they need to do is C&D. Regardless of the massive percentage of America that breaks copyright law, if you are caught violating copyright law and convicted in court, you can be forced to pay extremely heavy fines, amongst other penalties.

The reason this law is bad is that it tramples on fair use and it provides a penalty that is disproportionate for the offense. If little Billy wants to make a cool video on YouTube, he might not know what is public domain and what is not, and certainly shouldn't face five years in jail and lose his right to vote for his ignorance. If I made a recording of myself with a webcam and uploaded it to YouTube, I could face jail time and a felony if I forget to turn the television off before doing so. This is why this law is completely unacceptable.

I have no problem with laws that protect the interest of copyright holders. I have a problem with laws that provide a disproportionate punishment compared to the offense, and a felony with five years of jail time is absurd for the offense of sharing files intentionally, never mind unintentionally.

 

[Cue]

If I made a recording of myself with a webcam and uploaded it to YouTube

That's okay, I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyways.

What bothers me the most about this bill is the 5 years, people get put away for man slaughter for less than that, since when did uploading a video that includes clips from a show or video game actually constitute a longer sentence and taking a human life?

 

[Bbop800]

Hey guys, do me a favor and stop panicking over the worst-case scenario, okay? It's not likely to happen.

I'm quite aware this is likely not going to happen, actually. The fact is, what if the law does get passed? That's pretty much what we're all trying to discuss here.

 

[ABraker95]

Interesting. So the bill might be passed in America, right? What about other countries that don't have that law. The people of those countries are still free to upload whatever they want as before. So I don't really see how U.S. is trying to to get rid of piracy, when the rest of the world would still be able to upload videos onto Youtube with or without that bill.

 

[Sonnarkku]

Exactly, implementing such a law in a single country is ridiculous, this is pretty much the "internet censoring" thing all over again.

 

[Cue]

Interesting. So the bill might be passed in America, right? What about other countries that don't have that law. The people of those countries are still free to upload whatever they want as before. So I don't really see how U.S. is trying to to get rid of piracy, when the rest of the world would still be able to upload videos onto Youtube with or without that bill.

The majority of videos are uploaded to American based companies.

 

[ABraker95]

Originally Posted by Cue
The majority of videos are uploaded to American based companies.

That doesn't mean that piracy would be over. Other countries may upload video with pirated contents at will; whether it's a majority or not, it is still there.

 

[sims]

That doesn't mean that piracy would be over. Other countries may upload video with pirated contents at will; whether it's a majority or not, it is still there.

No, you don't understand. If someone from any other country decided to upload a video on Youtube, Youtube would still have to pull it down because now they're hosting it on an American server, which is still illegal for them.

 

[ABraker95]

But wouldn't that be against their rights?

 

[kyllian1212]

W... What the... This law is stupid!
[EDIT]This wont affect me,i live in France.(even through that if passed, it may happen to passes this law on other country)Still,that law sucks.

 

[sims]

But wouldn't that be against their rights?

Not really. If I uploaded a video that was illegal in Japan on a Japanese video site, it would be pulled down regardless of whether it's illegal where I live, because now the site is hosting it on their servers.

 

[ABraker95]

Wow...if the law actually does get passed, Youtube might get 1,000,000 less visits than average.

 

[Sonnarkku]

Let's put it simple, this law won't pass, period.

Not because US does it, the whole wide world will, they would just end up getting behind other countries, and not even Americans are that retarded, so it doesn't even worth thinking of it as an actual possibility.

 

[I'll Begin]

Solution: Move to Australia.