Video and Audio Streaming A Felony?

[Steve Weldon]

I think there are two basic questions we should ask ourselves in the evaluation of this proposed law:

1.  Should piracy of copyrighted materials be a criminal or civil offense.  Or both.  It is not necessary for something to be criminal to have caused damages and to sue/collect for those damages.  I'm sure we can all think of 1000's of examples, many more serious than copyright infringement. 

2.  AND if we do say it should be criminal, at what point/level is someone breaking the law?  I guarantee that if you surfed the web today, that you have downloaded (via browsing) unauthorized copyrighted material.  I guarantee you there are many instances of unauthorized copyrighted material on YouTube.  Watching this material is effectively downloading/streaming copyrighted material.  If it should be criminal, how big are you willing to build our jails and how many taxes are you willing to pay to jail these "criminals?"

I personally have no issue with a copyright holder being able to sue for infringement and collect damages.  What I take issue with is the proposed methods and lengths allowed law enforcement personnel in their quest to find infringer's.  And I take issue with it being a criminal offense if the material is for personal use.  I would support it being a criminal offense if the material was being stolen for commercial gain.

Wiretapping of our internet use should be a giant red flag to anyone concerned with the expectation of privacy.  This is why wiretapping authorizations have historically been such a high bar to justify.

[degrub]

No, i am not saying that. Sorry, i reversed the order of two words. i was excerpting a portion of the article, as allowed.

When laws are written in this country, i have found it useful to "follow the money" to understand some of the potential implications of the legislation.

"but it is in parts of the country where people go to family reunions to meet women."

Sorry, i don't know the reference.

Frank Worley