Senators Unconcerned About Massive Unintended Consequences Of Criminalizing People For Embedding YouTube Videos

from the shame-on-them dept

This is really no surprise, but the same Senate Judiciary Committee that unanimously approved the PROTECT IP Act, despite worries from internet experts and major media about how it would break the internet, has now also unanimously approved the anti-internet streaming bill that makes it a felony to stream certain videos online -- potentially putting people in jail for embedding YouTube videos or just putting up YouTube lip synching videos.

What's really troubling here is that the media and plenty of concerned citizens have directly raised the issues about the unintended consequences of this law. And while Senators Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn and Christopher Coons continue to insist that (of course) the law is not intended to be used against such people, they have made no move to fix the bill. Even supporters of this bill, who insisted that we were wrong about what the bill allowed, eventually conceded that our argument was accurate and that this bill could be used to put people in jail for embedding a YouTube video or doing a lip synch video.

And that's a huge, huge problem. Of course, no one thinks the bill is for that purpose directly or that it's going to be widely used for such purposes. However, the bill, as written, clearly allows law enforcement to charge people with a felony for that, assuming it meets a few other conditions. But those conditions are pretty minimal (ads on your page? you're in trouble...). The risk here of abuse is a serious risk, and it's incredibly troubling that Klobuchar, Cornyn and Coons failed to change or adapt the bill, and worse that the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee allowed the bill to move forward in such a broken state. They were clearly made aware of problems with the bill, but directly chose not to make any changes. How do you explain that other than incompetence or corruption?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: amy klobuchar, christopher coons, copyright, felony, john cornyn, performance, streaming


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    weneedhelp (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:36am

    Thats it.

    I am not going to read TD anymore on Fridays.
    "How do you explain that other than incompetence or corruption?"

    A lot from column A, and A lot from column B.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      A Dan (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:45am

      Re: Thats it.

      I would have added "Laziness"; they didn't write the bill, why would they want to bother editing it? It's much easier to just approve the version the lobbyists wrote for them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        DannyB (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:45am

        Re: Re: Thats it.

        The DMCA was written this way.

        It is an industry buying custom written legislation. They write it and pay for it, congress rubber stamps it.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Atkray (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:16am

      Re: Thats it.

      I am not going to read TD anymore on Fridays.

      I've been getting that same feeling.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      ArkieGuy (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 2:38pm

      Consider the source...

      Two of my favorite quotes work here:

      Arthur C. Clarke said "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

      Robert Hanlon (I think) said "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

      Put them together and you get my opinion of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "if it's more advanced than a pencil, it's probably magic and I can't understand it so it should be eliminated." :)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:37am

    Not intended, unless...

    Senators Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn and Christopher Coons continue to insist that (of course) the law is not intended to be used against such people...

    Unless, of course, such people happen to annoy the government or one of its corporate partners.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:40am

      Re: Not intended, unless...

      Never give anyone any more power than it is needed to get the job done. It WILL be abused. And it only takes ONE idiot to start abusing it a little for a whole crowd of idiots to immediately decide to do the same.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      DannyB (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:50am

      Re: Not intended, unless...

      Don't be so pessimistic. The government is here to protect you. Remember the PATRIOT act? That even has the word "patriot" in it, so it can't be bad. That law was also not intended to be used against people who aren't terrorists. PATRIOT even had sunset provisions.

      Laws will never be abused by government.

      Please discontinue your wrong thinking immediately.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Prisoner 201, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:26am

      Re: Not intended, unless...

      Just look at how UK used anti terrorist laws to freeze icelandic assets after the bank collapse.

      Not because iceland is full of terrorist, no one even pretended that that was the case, but because the law allowed them to freeze icelandic assets.

      That law was (of course) not intended to do that...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Richard (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:14pm

        Re: Re: Not intended, unless...

        Not to mention arresting a pensioner for heckling at the Labour conference.....

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:39pm

      Re: Not intended, unless...

      "Unless, of course, such people happen to annoy the government or one of its corporate partners."

      In other words, everyone under 30.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:38am

    "Senators Unconcerned About Massive Unintended Consequences Of Criminalizing People For Embedding YouTube Videos"

    Unintended? That's a good one! You should do stand-up comedy!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    McBeese, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:43am

    Massive amounts of Both

    I think this bill is thriving on massive amounts of corruption and incompetence.

    There are way too many open-ended questions that need to be clarified before this steaming turd can be allowed to pass.

    I guess if I put the videos I've purchased in my Cloud locker, The locker services (Amazon, Google, iCloud) can't let me stream it to my device because that could be construed as a felony unless they have paid for the rights to let me stream my content to my devices over their networks. Instead I have to download it and play it on the same device because that isn't a felony.

    Bottom line: Technical incompetents should NOT be allowed to judge technical issues. Big companies use CTOs and their organizations to drive technical decisions. Where the hell is our government's CTO?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:08am

      Re: Massive amounts of Both

      If our government had a CTO they'd be a political appointee with no knowledge or experience.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:45am

    In future, "Use the internet = committed an offence". Best stear clear of the tubes. ;D

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Headbhang, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:46am

    Disgusting

    I hope their decision comes back to bite their own asses in full karmic force.

    Legislators ought to be required to pass basic competency examinations about technological topics before being allowed to pass laws that concern them, but of course, that would leave barely no-one to do so. Bunch of ignorant arse-licking snakes, they all are.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:46am

    For a less alarmist view of things, I recommend reading: http://www.copyhype.com/2011/06/fears-of-felony-streaming-bill-overblown/

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      weneedhelp (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:54am

      Re:

      Was that supposed to support your alleged position that we are blowing this out of proportion?

      Will S.978 Put You in Jail for Embedding Infringing Videos?
      Despite the breadth of the public performance right, civil lawsuits against individuals alleged to have infringed it online are rare — Live Nation Motor Sports is the exception rather than the rule. The worry that S.978 will lead to prisons overflowing with people for sharing online videos that happen to be infringing is overblown.

      The standard for establishing criminal copyright liability is much higher than civil liability.

      Ill stop there. But it is apparent to any rational logical thinking human being that this new bill was crafted to assist in making it easier to bring these cases.

      FAIL

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:33am

        Re: Re:

        And how do you suppose the average YouTube uploader meets the two-pronged mens rea element? And why aren't people being arrested left and right if it's already a misdemeanor?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Atkray (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:23am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Because arresting people for misdemeanors is costly and inefficient. People are not scared of misdemeanor charges.

          Once it is escalated to a felony expect to see several very high profile cases of "ordinary average citizens" arrested tried and imprisoned for 20+ years.

          Not quite as effective as a guillotine in the town square, but close.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:49am

          Re: Re: Re:

          They don't have to. The MPAA and rIAA will poiint this at a person, and either:

          a) try and extort them; or
          b) lock them up in Gitmo (an exxageration, but upto 5 years in jail and $150k/infringing work seems so fair.)

          It doesn't have to be open to be abused. And I'm telling you NOW that this will be abused so hard it's not even funny anymore. I wish I could walk into the RIAA's office and casually snuff out its existence with a satellite laser.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:21pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            "I could walk into the RIAA's office and casually snuff out its existence with a satellite laser."

            yeah, kind of self defeating isn't it... you in the building, firing a satellite laser at your location.

            Score +1 for rational thinking. /s

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Chargone (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 4:00am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              'up to' rather than 'into' i think. :)

              rational thinking? we needs it not. correct grammar counts for a lot :D

              (punctuation, on the other hand, is silly.)

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              The eejit (profile), 19 Jun 2011 @ 1:10am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Eh, My life is valueless, I'd be adding Z to the world with that oen action. :D

              link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Hank Single, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:53am

        Re: Re:

        It's not about what likely 'will' be done - but what can be done. Every kid with a laptop is now a felon. This is how a police state functions - not that you arrest everyone, but that you can arrest anyone.

        The major voice against the current tide of the government has been from the internet, this bill can be used to comfortably target anyone who is internet savvy. It's as though every road had a camera on it and going over the speed limit were a felony. If you have a car, you are now a felon if you being a felon suits the moment.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:57am

      Re:

      It fails to dispel any of the worries. It basically shrugs off any of the concerns with sentences like "yes, it can be done, but it is rarely enforced". Some article...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:30am

        Re: Re:

        To be included under the bill: "the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and 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 the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000."

        I don't see how the value of the public performance to a YouTube poster could be worth more than $2,5000, so that's not an issue. The other criteria is that the fair market value of the licenses for those performances must exceed $5,000. I don't know the value of licenses. Do you?

        On top of that, for criminal infringement, there is a two-pronged mens rea element for "wilfulness" since it is a specific intent crime. The government must show: (1) intent to copy, and (2) intent to infringe.

        Do you think a teen uploading a video of her lip-syncing to Lady Gaga meets this requirement? I don't.

        Plus, consider the fact that it's already a misdemeanor. How many people have been charged with this? Exactly.

        The fears are WAY overblown. Give me a break.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:43am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and 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 the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000"

          Numbers can easily be manipulated. Remember, the AA's wanted 75 trillion dollars from Limewire, even though everyone and their dog can see that that is unreasonable.

          "The government must show: (1) intent to copy, and (2) intent to infringe"

          Not a problem for someone who would sue dead people and people without an Internet connection.

          "plus, consider the fact that it's already a misdemeanor. How many people have been charged with this? Exactly."

          If you had read the article you yourself linked, the reason pointed for this is that is little incentive to do it. The changes, supposedly, would provide more incentive to sue, ergo, more lawsuits, ergo, we are STILL concerned.

          So, no, the article didn't help.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:09am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Numbers can easily be manipulated. Remember, the AA's wanted 75 trillion dollars from Limewire, even though everyone and their dog can see that that is unreasonable.

            Um, how do you manipulate the numbers? The value to the uploader is what the value is. When you upload a video to YouTube, how much money do you get? That's the issue.

            Not a problem for someone who would sue dead people and people without an Internet connection.

            You haven't addressed the issue. How do you prove that two-pronged mens rea element for a regular YouTube uploader? Saying it's "not a problem" is not an answer.

            If you had read the article you yourself linked, the reason pointed for this is that is little incentive to do it. The changes, supposedly, would provide more incentive to sue, ergo, more lawsuits, ergo, we are STILL concerned.

            So even though it's a misdemeanor and you can't point to anyone being arrested for uploading a YouTube video, you assume that once it's a felony, the feds will be chomping at the the bit to make arrests? That's not a convincing argument.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:31am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Then why bother making this legislation at all?!

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:52am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              It will become a felony crime. That is still in the current form of the bill.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:25am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Um, how do you manipulate the numbers? The value to the uploader is what the value is. When you upload a video to YouTube, how much money do you get? That's the issue.

              It sounds like this is more of an issue for the lucky members who are YouTube partners. These are people who have become popular enough to have Google invite them into a revenue sharing arragement based on the number of hits their videos get. Being a hit on YouTube just became a whole lot riskier.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              BeeAitch (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 7:08pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              "Um, how do you manipulate the numbers? The value to the uploader is what the value is. When you upload a video to YouTube, how much money do you get? That's the issue."

              You forgot to add all the money that the copyright owners lost WHEN YOU STOLE FROM THEM. THAT MONEY IS VALUE, DAMMIT!

              Sound ridiculous? Said owners claimed Limewire owed them $75 million. Seems pretty easy to claim more than $5000 lost.

              "You haven't addressed the issue. How do you prove that two-pronged mens rea element for a regular YouTube uploader? Saying it's "not a problem" is not an answer."

              If you think the feds can't ignore the law or make it up as they go, you haven't been paying attention. ICE seizures anyone? If they can seize domains without due process, they can provide mens rea easily enough (or skip it, take your choice).

              "So even though it's a misdemeanor and you can't point to anyone being arrested for uploading a YouTube video, you assume that once it's a felony, the feds will be chomping at the the bit to make arrests? That's not a convincing argument."

              The feds are already chomping at the bit to get arrests. This won't increase their fervor any. The only difference is that IT IS NOW A FELONY. Why? (I'll give you a hint: felons don't share all the rights of regular citizens.)

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Fairportfan (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:37pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              The value to the uploader is what the value is.

              Um, no.

              The value is what the copyright owner loses because people get their content without paying them for it.

              And the courts tend to believe the copyright owner - at least provisionally, subject to rebuttal ... which is difficult if not impossible for the average citizen.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:53am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I don't see how the value of the public performance to a YouTube poster could be worth more than $2,5000, so that's not an issue.

          Did you intentionally ignore the "or to the copyright owner" part?

          Say someone records a video of a concert and uploads it to Youtube. Tickets to the concert cost $50. 50 people watch it. Got a calculator handy? Mine tells me that's $2500.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:15am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Did you intentionally ignore the "or to the copyright owner" part?

            You're right. I should have said that too.

            Say someone records a video of a concert and uploads it to Youtube. Tickets to the concert cost $50. 50 people watch it. Got a calculator handy? Mine tells me that's $2500.

            Why do you assume the value of a concert video on YouTube is the same as the value of a ticket to the concert? That makes no sense to me.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:18am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Why do you assume the value of a concert video on YouTube is the same as the value of a ticket to the concert? That makes no sense to me.

              Copyright makes no sense to me.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:50am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Since when has any of the 'logic' the *AA's use been based on rational facts? They might even say that for each of those 10 views, there were 10 people watching, and therefore you owe for 100 tickets!

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:36am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Why do you assume the value of a concert video on YouTube is the same as the value of a ticket to the concert? That makes no sense to me.

              I don't. But you can bet that copyright owners will, and then they'll go and add ripple effects and make 50 views @ $50 each somehow equal to tens of thousands in damages.

              This entire bill doesn't make any sense to me. Neither does all of copyright law. If only laws had to make sense, we'd never need to worry about them.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:05am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I don't see how the value of the public performance to a YouTube poster could be worth more than $2,5000, so that's not an issue. The other criteria is that the fair market value of the licenses for those performances must exceed $5,000. I don't know the value of licenses. Do you?

          The courts usually accept the owner's asking price to be the value.

          The fears are WAY overblown. Give me a break.

          They are not and greed and evil don't deserve breaks.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:20am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            The courts usually accept the owner's asking price to be the value.

            We're talking about the actual value of the performance. If I upload a song to YouTube of me singing a Black Eyed Peas song, what's the value of that?

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:24am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              We're talking about the actual value of the performance. If I upload a song to YouTube of me singing a Black Eyed Peas song, what's the value of that?

              Whatever the copyright owner says it is.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:30pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              "If I upload a song to YouTube of me singing a Black Eyed Peas song, what's the value of that?"

              Actually if you have a million people viewing your YouTube video, ASCAP can come after you. The price per stream is really high, ask any internet radio station.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              nasch (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 9:51pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              We're talking about the actual value of the performance.

              Oh, the actual value! You mean the government and the copyright holders are going to stop making stuff up like they always, always do? Gosh, I guess we really don't have anything to worry about!

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Mike Masnick (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:29am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I don't see how the value of the public performance to a YouTube poster could be worth more than $2,5000, so that's not an issue.

          Hmm. I would argue that very much depends on the situation, but given a video that gets lots of views, and has ads on it, sure, that argument would not be hard to make.

          On top of that, for criminal infringement, there is a two-pronged mens rea element for "wilfulness" since it is a specific intent crime. The government must show: (1) intent to copy, and (2) intent to infringe.

          Easy on both accounts. Intent to copy: they did the embed/lip synch or whatever. Clearly the intent was to copy. Intent to "infringe" again it depends on the situation, but again, it's not hard to make that argument. "Everyone knows that these works are copyrighted, and by embedding it on their site, which has Google ads, making it a commercial play, clearly they intended to infringe for their own commercial benefit..."

          Not hard at all.

          Do you think a teen uploading a video of her lip-syncing to Lady Gaga meets this requirement? I don't.


          But what about the guy lipsynching to her video, embedded on his blog with Google ads, that gets hundreds of thousands of views?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:34am

            Who cares about lip synching?

            Lip synching is awful. Lip synchers are awful. I'd be happy if neither existed.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Chris in Utah (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:51am

              Re: Who cares about lip synching?

              Ever seen a cam girl? What say u then?

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:13pm

                Re: Re: Who cares about lip synching?

                I am talking about how ridiculous and useless lip synching is. What are you talking about?

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  techflaws.org (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:01pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Who cares about lip synching?

                  D'uh, that your distaste for lip synching videos has no bearing on the matter whatsoever.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:35pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Mike hope you are feeling better ...

            You missed an important piece, Cover songs. If you sing happy birthday and a million people watch it on you tube, you are now a felon. The ASCAP types can come after you also if I read the law correctly.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:16am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              I just learned about "Happy Birthday" being "protected" from my niece a few weeks ago - she teaches autistic children. They had a BD party for one of the children at a restaurant and were told they couldn't sing "THAT" song lest they be guilty of "copyright infringement".

              So make sure all the windows are closed and you sing Happy Birthday very, VERY softly at any family birthday gatherings lest "THEY" hear you ... and be sure that camcorder is off so no one can share your family singing "Happy Birthday" on the everyone-is-a-felon-Inet.

              Stop the world. I want to get off.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Hephaestus (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 10:33pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                I wonder if marilyn monroe got permission when she sang happy birthday to the president.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2011 @ 3:05pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              If you sing happy birthday and a million people watch it on you tube, you are now a felon.

              Do you think people who upload video of them singing "Happy Birthday" intend to commit a crime by doing so? There is that intent element that must be proved.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:15pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            My reply would be simply that if someone is intentionally infringing and it meets the other requirements, then why's it so bad that it's a felony? The person has criminal intent, right? Why not treat them like a criminal? It's a misdemeanor already, so I don't see the big deal.

            I admit I hadn't considered the embedding a video on a site other than YouTube. That's a good point.

            (See, it's easy to admit when you've made a good point.)

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              BeeAitch (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 7:17pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              A felony is one of three strikes. A convicted felon cannot vote, is restricted from many jobs, etc. There are plenty of reasons why this shouldn't go from a misdemeanor to a felony.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Hephaestus (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 10:35pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                "A felony is one of three strikes. A convicted felon cannot vote, is restricted from many jobs, etc."

                I finally figured it out. The democrats are going to selectively enforce this against any republican. If you can't vote you can't vote for the other side. ;)

                link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              techflaws.org (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:02pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              So what of this intent is actually criminal?

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Fairportfan (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:47pm

                Anything that They say is

                Nothing, if you just consider motives.

                Everything, if you consider how the law is written.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 5:57am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            So Masnick, if this is such an evil bill; why aren't mainstream apologists like CDT, EFF and PK all over it? I see nothing on their websites and looking at the bill's webpage I note that these organizations haven't even come out to oppose it on the record. For that matter, for all of the sniveling you do, it doesn't appear that Techdirt ever bothers making its opposition part of the record. At a certain level all of the rantings look foolish without any willingness to back shit up.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:18am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              What a headache-inducing load of crappy crap crap. *rolleyes*

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 9:25am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Hey! Why don't you go and ask them and then report back to us, 'kay?

              *waits on tenterhooks...tenterhooks!*

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              The eejit (profile), 19 Jun 2011 @ 1:14am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              I yell at my reps each and every week. I get a stock letter asking for 'contributions' back each week, like clockwork.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          ATM, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:51pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          "I don't see how the value of the public performance to a YouTube poster could be worth more than $2,5000"

          When you are dealing with an industry that claims 6 figure losses for uploading 30 songs, nothing is impossible

          "Do you think a teen uploading a video of her lip-syncing to Lady Gaga meets this requirement?"

          By the time this question is answered in court this teen would have been arrested, sent to jail, paid tens of thousands of dollars in bail and legal fees. not to mention the psychological stress.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 5:02pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          IIRC the mens rea elements are "subjective", and not "objective". In other words, the mere act of doing something that objectively infringes a copyright is not enough.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Fairportfan (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:48pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Conversely, the mere act of doing something the guys with the money disapprove of is.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2011 @ 3:51pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            IIRC the mens rea elements are "subjective", and not "objective". In other words, the mere act of doing something that objectively infringes a copyright is not enough.

            That's right. The test is not whether the belief is objectively reasonable. The test is whether the defendant really believes the law does not proscribe his conduct. See United States v. Moran, 757 F. Supp. 1046 (D.Neb. 1991).

            link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:05am

      Re:

      "For a less alarmist view of things, I recommend reading: http://www.copyhype.com/2011/06/fears-of-felony-streaming-bill-overblown/"

      Translation: I recommend that everyone just bend over.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:10am

        Re: Re:

        @AC:

        There's an old saying, "You can't get fucked unless you assume the position".

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:38am

        Re: Re:

        Translation: I recommend that everyone just bend over.

        Um, no. I recommend people get their information from less biased sources, look at the text of the bill, consider the high mens rea that must be proved, and decide for themselves.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:58am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I recommend people get their information from less biased sources,

          Oh, yes, lawyers and shills that are paid by the legacy content industries who have repeatedly ratcheted copyright law to absurd levels that were never intended are not biased.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:21am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Oh, yes, lawyers and shills that are paid by the legacy content industries who have repeatedly ratcheted copyright law to absurd levels that were never intended are not biased.

            Do you have any evidence that Terry Hart is "paid by the legacy content industries"? If not, I don't follow you.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:44am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Of course they don't, because he doesn't.

              This site has become a joke.

              The articles are transparent hyperbole and fear mongering misrepresentations.

              The comments here to intelligent observations by ACs read as if they were all written by a 12 year-old.

              The bias and zealotry that was once latent, has exploded into full blown lunatic fringe behavior.

              Mission accomplished.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:57am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                "The comments here to intelligent observations by ACs read as if they were all written by a 12 year-old."

                Nothing but a bunch of freetards.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • identicon
                  Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:21pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  Why aren't they all in jail yet? Isn't being freetarded against the law?

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • identicon
                    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:34pm

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    First, they came for the freetards...

                    ...but I didn't speak out because I'm not a freetard.

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                RadialSkid (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:31pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                intelligent observations by ACs

                BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

                link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:51pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                Yawn.

                I have no direct evidence. But the content industries have no evidence that copyright is required to promote the progress or the creation of new works, nor that this bill will do anything to slow down copyright infringement.

                RIAA, MPAA, and BSA "studies" are transparent hyperbole and fear mongering misrepresentations.

                The comments here to intelligent observations by ACs read as if they were all written by a 12 year-old.

                The wording on this statement is ambiguous. If you mean that the comments made by many Anonymous Cowards read like they were written by pre-pubescent children, I'll agree with you. Notice I'm not an Anonymous Coward. I'm not afraid to give my name and who I represent (no one but myself). I'm clear that I know my position on copyright is not mainstream, and I'm perfectly OK with that. If you want to call me a lunatic, go for it. I feel more like the little kid saying that the emperor is naked.

                Judging all of TechDirt by what a few commenters like myself post is either a clear sign that you're afraid Mike is making an impact, that you can't refute his points, or that you are playing some kind of political or PR game and trying to make him look bad by what I say. I could care less about those kind of games - I care about reality. And I think Mike cares enough for free speech that he won't censor me, even if short-sighted people somehow think we're linked (we're not, as I've had maybe 2 or 3 indirect interactions with him in the years I've been reading).

                Well, enough of this pissing match. Back to work for me.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Someantimalwareguy, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:02am

          Re: Re: Re:

          ...look at the text of the bill,...


          We did and our eyes are still bleeding so hang on...

          ...consider the high mens rea that must be proved...


          High? Really? This coupled with the new "guilty by accusation" standards means it will actually be easier to not only threaten people, it will actually make it more likely that those accused would face potential felony charges even if it were later to be found that evrything they embeded turned out to be fair use...

          ...and decide for themselves


          The jury took about 5 minutes of dilberation to come to the conclusion that this law is the product of Industry capture and not from a requirement to protect the people from the evils of potential copyright infringement.

          Note: The 5 minutes was required to wipe the blood out of our eyes so we could see well enough to post a response...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:10am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Um, no. I recommend people get their information from less biased sources, look at the text of the bill, consider the high mens rea that must be proved, and decide for themselves.

          I did, and concluded that supporters of this bill want people to bend over.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:05am

        Re: Re:

        That link is down.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike Masnick (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:06am

      Re:

      For a less alarmist view of things, I recommend reading: http://www.copyhype.com/2011/06/fears-of-felony-streaming-bill-overblown/

      ... in which Terry Hart sets up a total strawman that no one has argued ("The worry that S.978 will lead to prisons overflowing with people for sharing online videos..."). No one made that argument. We were quite explicit that this won't lead to massive charges. Our problem is that it absolutely *could* be used to charge someone for such things, and nothing in Hart's analysis goes against that.

      That's amazingly troubling. All the supporters of this bill seem to say "you're crazy!" and then eventually admit "well, sure it could be, but no one would do that."

      It's astoundingly troublesome that people think it's okay to pass a bill that could very clearly be abused, and then just trust the system not to abuse it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Ken, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:15am

        Re: Re:

        To think the RIAA or MPAA will not use this law to scare people into submission is so naive it is pitiful.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Hephaestus (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 10:38pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Yes but thats what they have been trying to do all along. It hasn't worked ... if we could only have a death penalty for infringement that would stop piracy.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:18am

        Re: Re:

        What about my points of the valuation of the performance being a hurdle, as well as the high mens rea? Can you address the thrust of my argument?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:59pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          mens rea can be argued thus:

          .By virtue of posting the video online, you are infringing already;
          .Ads are shown that generate revenue for Youtube and/or the postee;
          .In each case, there is a profit to be made.
          .Seeing as the RIAA can manage to make a multiplatinum-selling album a loss-leader, it can asdjust the numbers to show that this made more of a profit.

          If you cannot see that, then I think you need a refund on your Law degree tuition fees.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      McBeese, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:48am

      Re:

      Good link. Thx.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      anymouse (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:55am

      Re:

      From the linked Copyhype article, "Other factors support the idea that most internet users have no reason to worry about this bill."

      Sounds an awful lot like, "If you've got nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about." .....

      Except it's more like, "Most people have nothing to hide, so shouldn't worry about random mandatory police raids and searches of homes for potentially infringing material."

      "What's infringing today?" ..... "We'll let you know as soon as we find it, we know it has to be here somewhere."

      "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain..."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      raycote, 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:23am

      Re:

      Thanks for linking to the spin doctors!

      And the looting of the economy by the banks is just hype to, according to the banker's PR bagmen.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:49am

    "Even supporters of this bill, who insisted that we were wrong about what the bill allowed, eventually conceded that our argument was accurate and that this bill could be used to put people in jail for embedding a YouTube video or doing a lip synch video. "

    That's it? A single comment from an anonymous commenter is all you have to bolster your contention that supporters of the bill agree with your argument? At a minimum you should amend that sentence to begin "Even a single, anonymous commenter posting on Techdirt...."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:39am

      Re:

      That's it? A single comment from an anonymous commenter is all you have to bolster your contention that supporters of the bill agree with your argument? At a minimum you should amend that sentence to begin "Even a single, anonymous commenter posting on Techdirt...."

      But that's not the Techdirt way.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        lucidrenegade (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:49pm

        Re: Re:

        How about you ACs grow a pair and register for an account? Oh wait, then everyone would be able to see you're nothing but a bunch of trolls.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:00pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          No, they did. Then when Karl ripped apart their arguments, they AC'ed back up.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:36am

          Re: Re: Re:

          How about you ACs grow a pair and register for an account? Oh wait, then everyone would be able to see you're nothing but a bunch of trolls.

          It always amuses me when some anonymous commenter attempts to call out another anonymous commenter for being anonymous. What a hypocrite.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:45am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "How about you ACs grow a pair and register for an account? Oh wait, then everyone would be able to see you're nothing but a bunch of trolls."

          Or do like lucidrenegade and register multiple accounts so that you cam pretend to be multiple people!

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            lucidrenegade (profile), 20 Jun 2011 @ 5:29am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            This is the only account I've ever had, and I've never posted as an AC. Try again.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:54pm

      Re:

      Sadly, further points made later in that thread are not mentioned. Virtually anything known to man, including laws, can be used in an abusive manner. Of course anything is possible, even if that possibility is about 10 sigma from the norm.

      An important point that was overlooked relates to the fact that courts serve as a check on legislative power. Moreover, courts have over the last several hundred years developed rules, doctrines, policies, etc. that are used by them in matters of statutory interpretation. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that the absolute worst will befall us merely because something "could" happen.

      Apparently I place far greater faith in our judicial system than many of those who decry the proposed bill.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Fairportfan (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:54pm

        Anything that can...

        Rule 34 says "If it exists, there is porn for it."

        Rule MW1 says "If a law can be abused, it will be."

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:48am

        Re: Re:

        Virtually anything known to man, including laws, can be used in an abusive manner.

        Well, this bill certainly seems to prove that.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    chuck, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:54am

    But but...You Tube has a button that you can use to get the code to embed a video.
    I guess that will go away, then whats the use of You tube if you can't share the wacky videos on there? so You Tube will also go away (or be used a LOT less)
    I wonder what Google (You Tube) has to say about this?

    Remember their names come election day folks.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      DH's Love Child (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:20am

      Re:

      I believe that was the entire purpose of this bill. It was a way for the RIAA/MPAA/Mafia to shut down YouTube, which they've been trying to do for a long time.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 3:48pm

        Re: Re:

        It is interesting that RIAA/MPAA/etc do not realize that they are whacking a hornets nest of companies, whose net worth is about 1,500 times the net worth of the companies they represent. Really stupid if you ask me.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:59am

    @Chuck

    Unless there's a Techdirt ticket, I doubt that the future opponents of these Senators would vote differently. Where's Wyden on this?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:00am

    I think that is boils down to the simple fact that you are upset that another one of the holes used by freeloaders and those who choose to ignore copyright is getting blocked up. I suspect that lawmakers were hoping in some ways that existing laws would be enough to give the courts appropriate frameworks to operate in, but failing that, they must craft new laws to address the new situation.

    It truly sucks if you business depends on embedding copyrighted video clips from a third party, claiming to only be an innocent blog operator or website owner. It would get rid of the "didn't know, didn't check" excuse that has left so many offenders to build their businesses without risk and without having to actually pay for the content they use.

    The wild west phase of the internet is quickly coming to an end, as the cowboys couldn't control themselves. The Sheriff is coming to do it for you.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:09am

      Re:

      I think that is boils down to the simple fact that you are upset that another one of the holes used by freeloaders and those who choose to ignore copyright is getting blocked up.

      I think that is boils down to the simple fact that he is upset that another one of the holes used by free speakers and those who choose to practice it is getting blocked up.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:16am

      Re:

      "The wild west phase of the internet is quickly coming to an end, as the cowboys couldn't control themselves. The Sheriff is coming to do it for you."

      The freedom phase of the internet is quickly coming to an end, as those in power felt threatened by it. The movie and recording industry is coming to do it to you.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:36am

        Re: Re:

        We need more Wild West, not less.

        If enforcing copyrights is so burdensome, and the laws that exist or are being suggested are so ultimately pointless, then loosening, curtailing, and shortening copyright is the way to unburden everyone.

        More law is not better law.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Abolutionist, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:58am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "If enforcing copyrights is so burdensome, and the laws that exist or are being suggested are so ultimately pointless, then loosening, curtailing, and shortening copyright is the way to unburden everyone."

          Abolish copyright.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:17am

      Re:

      "The wild west phase of the internet is quickly coming to an end..."

      I've been hearing about this for like 5 years now. Must be like when people say that "xxxx will be the year of linux on the Desktop", or "Browser Y version Z will be the ultimate browser that will kill off Firefox for good!". You know, one of those unlikely events that people are always saying will happen but never do.

      But there's still hope for you: Duke Nukem Forever was eventually released. So dream on! Never give up!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:23am

        Re: Re:

        @AC

        Seriously if you think these enforcement actions are so meaningless, what's with all of the drama?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:25am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Like I said, never give anyone more power than they need to get their job done, because it will be abused.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:31am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Also, these rules do not solve any problem: infringement will continue to occur at a massive scale and the true source of the problem will escape unscathed. The only one who will suffer will be those who, somewhat innocently (although not entirely), break these rules.

            Think about it this way: you are trying to "win" the war on drugs by arresting every dirty junkie you find half dead on the streets, instead of grabbing the drug lords. For every junkie you arrest, they get 10 more addicted. You solved nothing and have to feed thousands more in your decaying prisons. Yay justice!

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Jay (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:06am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Also, going for the "kings" creates a power vacuum that splinters the group, making the problem worse.

              Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Chris in Utah (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:11pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                Right, like states cant afford there own minds right?

                link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Chris in Utah (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:13pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                P.S. The problem isn't black and white as Jay puts it. Or rather its black and white on what Prohibition does and does not. Short memories that we have.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  Jay (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:00pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  I wasn't intending to put the problem as a black and white issue. Pragmatically speaking:

                  But if you go for the "street-level" offenders (as the analogy goes, the filesharers), you still haven't gotten the supply to go down.

                  Go for the mid level offenders (admins and third parties), and you haven't stopped the ones in charge.

                  Go for the kings (ISPs, etc) and they're usually insulated and not even close to touchable for liability. Then you have new kings step up to consume the vacuum.

                  No matter which level you go for, it's going to take more money than intended and it will be an expensive battle regardless.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • icon
                    Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:06pm

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    It will be an expensive battle at the taxpayers expense. Using your drug analogy you can't change genetic or human nature. The statue of anne was a law that was put in place in 1709. It is a law that goes against human nature. People share information, people talk, people sing, people share experience. The statue of anne and all copyright laws after violate this basic human drive.

                    The laws being passed recently in reguards to IP are alot like passing laws that say it is illegal to eat, drink, have sex, sing, quote history, and sleep.

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • identicon
                    Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2011 @ 6:03am

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    Jay, for the moment nobody is clear that the kings are doing anything illegal. That makes it hard for the midlevel and street people to feel they are guilty of anything, so they keep doing what they doing because it all seems easy and nobody is getting charged.

                    The intent of this law (and a few others in the works) is to shore up the system, and make a change in the way the public perceives the product. They are shifting the risk / reward benefits of sharing in various fashions to being higher risk, something fewer people will naturally take.

                    This is just another way to make clear in legal terms what is and what is not acceptable, and making it easier to move forward with prosecutions or civil cases knowing that there is clearer law on the subject.

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

                    • identicon
                      Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2011 @ 8:45am

                      Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                      And it still won't do a damn thing except waste my tax dollars.

                      link to this | view in chronology ]

                    • icon
                      Chris in Utah (profile), 19 Jun 2011 @ 10:18am

                      Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                      That or act(s) of civil disobedience to said kings ends up in a declaration of independence. Laws be damned, a great man once said, "You can not have a democracy without civil disobedience."

                      link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Jay (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:27am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Maybe because it's ineffective, oppressive, and overall unconstitutional?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          A Monkey with Atitude, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:53am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Frankly yes, the only way they get anything done is to hire the black hats to do it, then the black hats use the money to do other nasty things you don't even have a clue about....

          LOL you think you can stop us? Really? we understand the web better than the corps. or the gov... we can route around and you will still be happy hugging yourself thinking you won, and guess what NOTHING changes...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:59am

      Re:

      "I think that is boils down to the simple fact that you are upset that another one of the holes used by freeloaders and those who choose to ignore copyright is getting blocked up."

      So, what will hapopen to the next Dem or Repub who violates copyright on an ad campaign? Will they be arrested and tried?

      Somehow, i think not. And before you say that that wouldn't happen, I refer you to John McCain's campaign of 2008.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:22am

    Use the crappy law(s) crappily

    So the first time a high-profile figure breaks this soon-to-be-law, file criminal charges. Unfortunately it's probably the fastest way to fix things.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:27am

    It'll be interesting to see how Google reacts to this.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rekrul, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:35am

    The real problem with this bill isn't that it will be used to jail people who embed YouTube videos or who lipsynch to some copyrighted. I agreed that such things would probably be pretty rare.

    No, the real problem is that once passed, this law will be used to threaten all those people into taking down videos that should fall under fair use. People will start getting notices that say "Illegal streaming is a felony. Take down this video or you'll be arrested." Or even more likely, "Illegal streaming is a felony. Take down this video and pay us $2,000, or we'll have you arrested."

    Also, the bill says that the value of the streamed works must cost more than $5,000 to license. Is there a single piece of music or video that you can actually get a license to stream for that little? Doesn't that make every any streamed, copyrighted content automatically qualify under the bill?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Chris in Utah (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:40am

    Carry over

    In the last post somebody pointed out only willful infringement... for full description...

    Shadow16nh, Jun 16th, 2011 @ 4:59pm

    This article grossly misrepresents the implications of the proposed bill.

    People who upload innocuous covers to YouTube and those who may link to them elsewhere will be absolutely unaffected by it.

    Read the bill more carefully and you’ll see that the “…10 or more public performances…” stipulation is only applicable in conjunction with one or more of the subsequent provisions.

    You fail to note that this law only applies to *intentional* infringements where the total retail value of the performances exceeds $2,500 and the total fair market value of licenses for such use must exceed $5,000.

    Please check your facts more thoroughly in the future before allowing yourself to take an alarmist stance."


    I'll stand by the alarmist every time when intentional infringes are anybody with a regular cam or web-cam, making public performance with music they bought & making a living doing so. The same can be said for any service or performance art that uses music.

    It's bad enough Happy Birthday is copyrighted. And yet, only enforced in a public.. or I mean private restraunts. This bill effectively reaches in to a private home and says you cant work for yourself.

    I was going for joking levity in a stressful time when I mentioned the cam-girls and yet your basically saying go strip elsewhere, we want a clean internet neighborhood. Boggles the mind.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      A Monkey with Atitude, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:02am

      Re: Carry over

      No it doesn't, the "government" has always tried to legislate morality (drinking bans,gay bans, gambling, prostitutes) So now they are making the Internet a "HAPPY HAPPY FUN LAND OF SAFETY" and paying back their "friends" (the record labels) for more "donations"..... take the money out of their hands and bang so much for 60% of this stupid shit... until they try to build more "empires" of bureaucracy...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Rekrul, 17 Jun 2011 @ 7:56pm

      Re: Carry over

      You fail to note that this law only applies to *intentional* infringements where the total retail value of the performances exceeds $2,500 and the total fair market value of licenses for such use must exceed $5,000.

      You inserted the word "and" where you should have used "or";

      ...where the total retail value of the performances exceeds $2,500 or the total fair market value of licenses for such use must exceed $5,000

      Show me even a single copyrighted work where the license to stream it is less than $5,000.

      That's like saying that a cable company will only prosecute unauthorized people tapping into their service if the cost to pay for that same service exceeds $10.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    DMNTD, 17 Jun 2011 @ 9:56am

    Arguing...

    Over a law is retarded. Make your points but going back and forth is seriously a waste of time. WATCH what happens then make a new post and again make your point.

    BOTTOM LINE..laws have always been an abuse. They are non-sensible and as mike points out all the time NEW laws by this point are not needed! Its an abuse of power by this point but I am not going to argue with you..it just is, blow it out your ass.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:14am

      Re: Arguing...

      Over a law is retarded. Make your points but going back and forth is seriously a waste of time.

      Right. Ignore the man behind the curtain. Ignore what the government is doing. Nothing to see here, citizen, move along!

      /s

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        DMNTD, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:22am

        Re: Re: Arguing...

        So waste your time, keep arguing over a forum that won't change a damn thing. Its exactly this kind of venting that makes Americans so docile.

        You go and soundboard to a bunch of ninnies instead of writing congress. Going outside getting up with what you feel is the right thing.

        P>S> For sure your useless points on this forum will get the law out in the open. /s

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:30am

          Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

          So waste your time, keep arguing over a forum that won't change a damn thing.

          It called campaigning, and campaigning can make a difference.

          You go and soundboard to a bunch of ninnies instead of writing congress.

          Writing congress? Are you kidding? Now, that's a real joke! (Unless you send a lot of cash along with your letter.) I'd rather do something more effective, thank you. Something that I get the feeling that you're, for some reason, trying to discourage.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            DMNTD, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:38am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

            Its pointless, your not campaigning in a FORUM. You think this has subject matter? Go to your community point of contention ASK if they know a thing about PROTECT IP law passed? Then you will be campaigning.

            Writing to congress is not working because...your not doing it...you can't claim how something does not work when your effectively proving this by NOT doing it.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:46am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

              Its pointless, your [sic] not campaigning in a FORUM.

              Umm, yes, I am.

              You think this has subject matter?

              Yes. Next question.

              Writing to congress is not working because...your not doing it...you can't claim how something does not work when your effectively proving this by NOT doing it.

              Now you're just being plain dishonest. I don't know how you claim to know otherwise, but I have written to my congressional representative many times as a matter of principle. That's how I know how ineffective it is.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                jackwagon (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:50am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                me too. received a canned response asking for campaign contributions.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                DMNTD, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:54am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                Just keep repeating yourself. Nothing works, sound-boarding to empty space is working. Just keep repeat everything I just said.

                I get that man, if that works for you just keep repeating yourself. I gave real advice. I'm going to go actually do something. Remember..repeat yourself, otherwise its not true.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • identicon
                  Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:43am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                  Just keep repeating yourself. Nothing works, sound-boarding to empty space is working.

                  For something so ineffective, you sure are spending a lot words preaching against it.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  BeeAitch (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:06pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                  "...but I am not going to argue with you.."

                  Should've stuck with that statement.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:56pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                Perhaps your Congressman doesn't agree with your point of view. It happens, you know.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  Jay (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 1:58am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                  Mine is a sponsor for this damned bill...

                  And he DOES NOT answer you.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                • identicon
                  Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:40am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

                  Perhaps your Congressman doesn't agree with your point of view. It happens, you know.

                  Particularly if you didn't put a lot of money in the envelope along with your letter.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:26pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

              "Its pointless, your not campaigning in a FORUM."

              Okay, I am laughing really hard at this point. I actually spilled my tea. Well actually alot of people have campaigned online. It has actually worked and worked well. It is one of the resons we are in this shitty situation. You see, the current president of the united states took the election by having a huge presence online.

              Simple words in a blog do have meaning. They educate people to what is going on. They fill in the blanks that the big news outlets gloss over. They put people like you in their place.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:33am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Arguing...

              "Writing to congress is not working because...your not doing it...you can't claim how something does not work when your effectively proving this by NOT doing it."

              Um...they do not listen and they do not give on damn about anything a peon has to say. Some staffer reads your letter and if it gets acknowledged at all, it's with some stupid form letter some hack wrote up to make it look like your Rep. actually got your letter/email. Learn it, live it love it.

              And get out and vote the bastards out of office.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      xenomancer (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 4:34pm

      Re: Arguing...

      EVERYONE PLEASE STOP FEEDING THE TROLL!!!!!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Bengie, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:01am

    Don't worry

    We won't prosecute you unless we want to. We'll just cherry pick the cases and more than likely, you won't get in trouble.

    Move along, nothing to see here.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    pjcamp (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:31am

    RICO

    Nobody intended RICO to be used against ordinary citizens either, but it is now the tool of choice in law enforcement. In many jurisdictions, confiscation of assets prior to trial is treated as just another form of taxes.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ken, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:37am

    Fair Use accounts for 18% of the US Economy

    A study conducted in 2010 shows that industries that rely on fair use account for 18% percent of the US economy dwarfing the publishing, movie, and music industries. This accounts for trillions of dollars and over 11 million jobs. Abolishing or even restricting fair use would cripple the economy and cost far more than any infringements ever could in magnitudes.

    Over IP protectionism has the potential of devastating the entire US economy and with REAL losses not with theoretical phantom losses that the RIAA likes to claim.

    http://www.ccianet.org/CCIA/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/000000000354/fair-use-study-fina l.pdf

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:39am

    You need to list all the names in that comission every time you write a story on a legislation like this one (even if you did it before). These people need to be called out on these bills, otherwise they won't care if nobody even knows they voted for this.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ScytheNoire, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:19am

    Quick and Easy Fix

    Here's the quick and easy fix. Find people who are related to these politicians. Arrest them for violating these retarded laws that should have never been passed. Watch how quickly they get things to change.

    Politicians never care about any one else unless it effects them. So make sure it effects them in a very real and negative way, like it does for the rest of society, and maybe these corrupt bastards will change their mind. Start tossing them and their families in jail.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:46am

      Re: Quick and Easy Fix

      Here's the quick and easy fix. Find people who are related to these politicians. Arrest them for violating these retarded laws that should have never been passed. Watch how quickly they get things to change.

      That's why they avoid arresting such people. It's called "selective enforcement", and it's used to keep bad laws on the books.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:33pm

        Re: Re: Quick and Easy Fix

        Would a citizens arrest work on a congress (man/woman)?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Jay (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 7:38am

          Re: Re: Re: Quick and Easy Fix

          Small note:

          Congress is insulated from the bills they make.

          It's right there in the Constitution.

          But when they are private citizens...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:33pm

        Re: Re: Quick and Easy Fix

        Also can you walk into a grand jury and file a complaint as a private citizen?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:34pm

        Re: Re: Quick and Easy Fix

        Hmmm ..... I have the beginnings of a plan :)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:38am

    LoL srsly?! Won't be used against innocent embedded videos? After I've seen copywrong morons charging money out of a PRIVATE wedding because other ppl could hear the music from the outside?! Srsly?

    Oh how I'd be ashamed if I were American.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Alexander, 17 Jun 2011 @ 11:45am

    Last free place

    The last free place on earth for people to express themselves was the cyberspace. Now cyberspace freedom has become a cyber-dream. You are not free. You were never free. You are a slave controlled and directed by the Big Brother. If you don't like it go F yourself. Because when the time comes for you to vote on who goes in the Senate you just crap your pants and vote for those who are advertised and supported by big money. Well you did it. Screw up life in any possible angle. Good for you moron who makes life miserable for more intelligent people. It is coming back at you and bite you in the ass and I hope you feel pretty good about it. Let Sony and GE rule your real world and your cyber-world altogether. Dreams are patented: NO MORE DREAMING YOU MF!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:59pm

      Re: Last free place

      wow someone is angry and bitter. Perhaps you just need a stool softener or something.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ur mom, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:01pm

    Why do we have people voting on bills that have no understanding of technology? It's insane what's going on in this govt

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ur mom, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:01pm

    Why do we have people voting on bills that have no understanding of technology? It's insane what's going on in this govt

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike Orr, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:49pm

    Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

    We keep having these discussions - Congress enacts various laws at the RIAA/MPAA behest, and we tryu and debate the issue as if logically showing the law is bad/stupid/ineffective/unconstitutional/etc is useful. it isn't.

    Our only effective tool is that while RIAA/MPAA etc, can (and do) provide money to politicians to helpo them campaing for (re)election, they can't actually get them (re)elected. They need us - but only our votes and donations.

    So - if we want this stopped, we need to make politicians aware of the price for actions on behalf of "industry". send them, and copy their party, and email saying basically "if you keep this up, I will not cote for you and your party, will not donate to you or your party, and will tell my family and friends to do the same".
    If the RNC or DNRC and the offices of the relevant politicians get enough of these, they'lll stop.
    Otherwise - why would they not keep doing it?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      The eejit (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:04pm

      Re: Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

      ACtually, a better plan would be to pirate everything. Buy cheap knockoffs, imported from China, download anything you'd like to watch, hack your cableboxes, do anything in your power to avoid paying these rat-faced pustules on society for anything.

      They cannot lobby if no-one actually pays them for goods.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:49pm

        Re: Re: Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

        Then they'll just sue you and garnish all your wages, and if their lobbyists have their way they'll soon be able to trow you in jail too. Not a very effective strategy...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:41am

          Re: Re: Re: Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

          "They cannot lobby if no-one actually pays them for goods."

          That's my choice.

          You cannot be sued simply because you've stopped purchasing a certain product. I will not purchase a DVD with a movie or TV series (and I've purchased a TON in my day) again. Done. Over.

          How can that be a reason to garnish my wages? Besides, taxes have already done that... Now they'll want to rob me for NOT buying??? Where does the infringement on civil rights end?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Jeni (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 6:37am

        Re: Re: Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

        Love that plan, eeijt. Will do what I can. ;)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Rekrul, 17 Jun 2011 @ 7:45pm

      Re: Explanations are useless - only (not) voting/donating counts

      Our only effective tool is that while RIAA/MPAA etc, can (and do) provide money to politicians to helpo them campaing for (re)election, they can't actually get them (re)elected.

      No, but they can buy the next politician that does get elected. And the cycle continues...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike Orr, 17 Jun 2011 @ 12:50pm

    Apologies for Typos - my dyslexia is shoing up ...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    john devoy, 17 Jun 2011 @ 1:20pm

    given todays politicians, id go with incompetance AND corruption.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    A Guy, 17 Jun 2011 @ 4:25pm

    Maybe, if the bill is broken enough, they assume that a Senator will put a hold on it. That way, the Senators can look like they tried to appease their campaign contributors and nothing deleterious to free speech and free expression happened. However, I fear I may be giving them too much credit.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Miles Maker, 17 Jun 2011 @ 5:02pm

    Not THOSE streamers!

    You're blowing this out of context.
    It's the uploading 'streamers' NOT those who share the link!

    Doh! Lol!!
    smh

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    DataShade (profile), 17 Jun 2011 @ 8:42pm

    How do you explain that other than incompetence or corruption?


    Unless you define those two words quite broadly, neither. It's the unholy trifecta of ignorance ("The internet is a series of tubes"), arrogance, and contempt (I maintain it's not enough that legacy industry lobbyists are donating a lot of money; the human psyche rejects self-identifying as evil, so even if they're voting in line with what their corporate donors want, they've made a justification for it, and that justification is almost always "they don't know what's best for them").

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      nasch (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 10:05pm

      Re:

      It's the unholy trifecta of ignorance ("The internet is a series of tubes")

      Thus, incompetence. One cannot be competent in an area one is ignorant of.

      the human psyche rejects self-identifying as evil, so even if they're voting in line with what their corporate donors want, they've made a justification for it

      That's still corruption.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    AnonymousButNotHim, 17 Jun 2011 @ 10:22pm

    Felony

    The whole show is given away by the sheer audacity and gall of equating LOST REVENUE for some media company with a FELONY.

    Any argument or reasoning after that is just beside the point. A fscking felony. Right, yeah, because it's a danger to life and limb. Yeah because that's really justified.

    Sorry, will not listen to any smoke, mirrors, weasels, wordsmiths or jujumen who can get behind such a travesty.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    iveseenitall, 18 Jun 2011 @ 1:51am

    The real problem with the bill is that it's driven purely by special interests.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 4:58am

    Challenge Lets find a guilty Representative under this proposed law.

    OK I bet we can find at least half a dozen infringers of this law who are our elected representatives.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Gene Cavanaugh (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 12:22pm

    Incompetence or corruption?

    If it is incompetence, it seems to happen only when the people who bought them want something.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2011 @ 3:18pm

    "Read the text of the bill"

    ...unlike any of the senators who actually signed it!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Saygin(?), 19 Jun 2011 @ 6:34pm

    Not corruption or incompetence

    Mike,

    It's neither corruption or incompetence; it's a lack of an organized & interested constituency. Youtube (and its clones) are at no greater risk than they previously were; the cable and satellite industry have a protection; and the ISPs have the Safe Harbor to protect them. Even Lessig knows that if Congress passes this, the Supreme Court won't overturn it.

    It's not corruption, it's just that not everyone can see unintended consequences so clearly.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Chris in Utah (profile), 19 Jun 2011 @ 8:34pm

      Re: Not corruption or incompetence

      Here's a thought. They are after all senators and part of there duty is to uphold the constitution. Yet, in the course of there duties they are to listen to there constituents in there respective states and vote accordingly. Furthermore to actually read the bill they are voting on for said constituents. Conclusion is how the hell is in the best interest of the People.

      Not corruption? I'd buy sea side property here in Utah on that. Incompetence you can draw your own conclusion on your respective representatives. So the problem may be neither corruption or incompetence and in one word in your conclusion, the blind. Will-full ignorance on the part of the electorate that is supposed to covering our asses is a dam sure fire way to burn the country around you as well.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      nasch (profile), 19 Jun 2011 @ 9:36pm

      Re: Not corruption or incompetence

      It's not corruption, it's just that not everyone can see unintended consequences so clearly.

      Wouldn't that be incompetence, then?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    SubGenius, 20 Jun 2011 @ 1:21am

    It is not unintended, nor incompetence. It is deliberate. The system is feeling threatened and doing everything it can to suppress the internet, the freedom of speech and the free flow of information.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    florence gillette, 25 Jun 2011 @ 8:01pm

    What you are all failing to realize is that this is a very simple anti-theft law. If you publish yourself lipsyncing to someone else's music, etc., you are a thief. The same goes for embedding their videos without the proper permissions and fees. Your only right is to see what has been properly posted, not to alter it or embed it as if it belonged to you, etc. The only flaws in the law is prosecuting people for viewing that which has been improperly posted. The only truly guilty party here is the up-loader. The laws now are being set to prosecute the viewer, as if he had sneaked into a theater (which is theft). If these laws are enforced as written, the only way to truly be safe, is to avoid all the sharing sites, including you tube.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      nasch (profile), 25 Jun 2011 @ 11:24pm

      Re:

      What you are all failing to realize is that this is a very simple anti-theft law.

      I have a sinking feeling that you're actually serious.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Jeni (profile), 26 Jun 2011 @ 5:03am

      Re:

      "If you publish yourself lipsyncing to someone else's music, etc., you are a thief. "

      OMG. Having fun! It's criminal!

      Seems to me that's flattering to whomever the songwriter/singer is/was. And now it's a crime to enjoy it and share it - along with a few grins and giggles. Nice... (sarc)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joe Schmoe, 19 Oct 2011 @ 10:10pm

    Just trust us...

    There are so many cases where a law wasn't "intended" to prosecute a all-time person, but somehow they found themselves out of favor and now a prosecutor "really wants" to find something to charge them with. If this bill passes, we will all trulybe felons just waiting for a prosecutor.

    Look up "Three Felonies a Day."

    The argument, "Don't worry, there are too many of us for them to prosecute us all." Would you feel okay if you knew there was a murderer shooting people at random in your city, because "Hey, what are the chances?"

    We don't have a justice system. We have a legal system.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.