Another Pro-Hollywood Senate Bill Passed By Voice Vote
from the sneaky-sneaky dept
On Friday, we wrote about how the Senate slipped in -- by voice vote -- an approval of the PIRATE Act, which would have the government doing the entertainment industry's dirty work for them (with your tax money). It appears that another pro-Hollywood bill was passed in a similar manner at the same time. This one would make it a much bigger crime to record a movie in the theater as well as add more jail time to those caught releasing movies or music before the commercial release of those products. This isn't quite as bad as the California law that could throw people in jail just for bringing a video camera into a theater, but it still seems quite excessive. It's already illegal to do these things. The only reason for this new law appears to be to use an even bigger stick against a crime many people don't think is that big of a deal. Clearly, our politicians are quite out of touch with the people they're supposed to represent -- though, they're still very much in touch with those who line their entertainment industry backers.
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