[Katsuya]

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Thanks to a bill recently signed by President Bush, pirates distributing pre-release movies on the internet can be imprisoned for up to three years (or more)

The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, approved by the House of Representatives last Tuesday, represents the entertainment industry's latest attempt to thwart rampant piracy on file-swapping networks. Movies such as "Star Wars, Blade and "Spiderman," have been spotted online before their theatrical releases.

The law had drawn some controversy because it broadly says that anyone who has even one copy of an unreleased film, software program or music file in a shared folder could be subjected to prison terms and fines of up to three years. Penalties would apply regardless of whether that file was downloaded or not.

Even A small file connected to a pirated movie could warrant jail time (Like a torrent file)

The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act also includes sections criminalizing the use of camcorders to record a movie in a theater, and authorizing the use of technologies that can delete offensive content from a film.

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[RZetlin]

It seems like the next logical step by the MPAA/RIAA and Congress.

This makes it more extreme that just getting sued by the RIAA. Americans can goto jail now for P2P usage.

 

[Kirby]

uh huh....I'm so scared It's one thing for politicians to sit on their ass and vote on bills that sound good, but enforcement is the only thing that counts. And I highly doubt with all these scams and identity theft going around (which are REAL crimes btw), that the goverment will even use 1 resource to enforce this law....and make the mpaa and riaa take care of their own business

 

[Eface]

with that law, you're less criminal in holland killing someone than downloading a movie. For those laughing right now: what i said is serious.

Luckily, that law isn't in effect here (yet)

 

[RZetlin]

As this article points out you get less time in jail if you kill someone than sharing your files online in America.

 

[Cid Highwind]

with that law, you're less criminal in holland killing someone than downloading a movie. For those laughing right now: what i said is serious.

Luckily, that law isn't in effect here (yet)

At least here you have computers and tv in prison

 

[Coolsvilleman]

well personally for me it makes sense. like common i wouldnt want my movie stolen eithier, but that being said, maybe they should consider why people are stealing it. Overpriced dvds, theatre tickets, etc. Fix the problem, not the symptoms.

 

[ArchIBaLD]

coolsvilleman i totaly agree.
but jail time is too much. downloaded a movie? pay for the movie ticket! or the dvd. hell pay double!

 

[ChankastRules]

paying a rather large sum is the best way, jail is not the right way to go ( or we would en up with 20% of the people in a country in jail )... the only unfair part is that people with much money can download as much as they want as a fine does not matter to them, but why download if you have a lot of money in the first place?

 

[Player-X]

Does this count if I own and operate a machine dedicated to piracy outside of the US while I am on US soil?

 

[Seta-San]

you know the problem with "sharing" online is don't you? When you share something physical you lose possession of it and the other person gains possession. Filesharing is something entirely different. When you "share" you both gain possession and worse, you can "share" with hundreds of people and each of those people can "share" with hundreds of people. the MPAA and the RIAA have a right to protect their financial asses. Some people around here think that they can do what they want and THAT'S why i think that they deserve as much jail time as they get. Just becaue the DMCA and the RIAA have millions upon millions of dollars isn't a good enough excuse to download pirate material. Also the price of CDs and DVDs isn't a good enough excuse. These are luxury items! You don't need them. True the DMCA went a little far... but this what Bush signed into law is good anti-piracy law.

 

[Player-X]

Here's an idea to cause some trouble:How about I set up A DVD sharing network of friends when I get to the US where members send thier DVDs to each other to share it and of course I will use something to encourage sharing of the DVDs and to avoid abuse

 

[Eface]

If i make a movie, people should want to watch it. If they want to pay me, that's fine. If they don't want to pay me, it just shows i made utter crap. There's a lot of crap today, people

 

[Seta-San]

Eface: you do realize that people don't normally download crappy movies don't you? And it doesn't matter if you don't like it. These organizations are entitled to pay for their work. and player-x that's already been done basically... it's called rentals. Drop by your local blockbuster or hollywood video and actually rent the movies you wish to see.

 

[dukenukem]

I am no way a pirate but with this statement i declare piret your asses off to no end like crazy.Also i must say this is appauling that you would serve more jailtime pirating then killing which is just wrong.I give a personal shout out to pron compoanies and will continue buying material legally.

 

[Lentoman]

This is exactly what happens when corporations get too much power and actually one way or another can bribe politicans into creating new laws.

Corpolitical: We aren't making as much money as we possibly can, even though we are making way more than enough.
G-man: So what do you suggest we do about it?
Corpolitical: Send them filesharers to jail, that'll teach them!
G-man: Alright, let's make a new law, yeeehaw!
G-man rolls dice...3
G-man: 3 years in jail for filesharing, sounds good enough?
Corpolitical: Yes, excellent! That'll scare them evildoer-filesharing-terrorists! Soon all their money are belong to us!

I think most people agree that stealing is wrong, but this isn't exactly stealing: It's unauthorized duplication of files. Making people go to jail for this won't help anyone except the corpoliticals. This isn't democracy at all, do you think a majority of the people would vote for or against a law like this?

Something is very very wrong. The corpolitical need to find another way to make more money, include t-shirts, posters hats or other physical bonuses with movies (also at the cinema).

Putting people in jail is only going to cost the society more, besides if the people live through 3 years of hell they will have a hard time adjusting to society again, be in debt and most likely end up in jail again or worse...die! Besides, I don't know about you but if I ever went to jail for something like that I'd be plotting revenge, even if it would cost me my life...

 

[Player-X]

Eface: you do realize that people don't normally download crappy movies don't you? And it doesn't matter if you don't like it. These organizations are entitled to pay for their work. and player-x that's already been done basically... it's called rentals. Drop by your local blockbuster or hollywood video and actually rent the movies you wish to see.

I mean where you send your DVDs to one guy and he sends it to another friend when he's done with it for free and so on all coordinated by someone to stop anyone "borrowing" a DVD and never sending it to anyone

 

[Lentoman]

Everyone should go listen to this FREE audio book, a scary story of what could happen if stuff like this keeps happening: (Start at season I)
http://www.theafternow.com/listen.php

 

[Ipswitch]

If you only download non-prerelease movies you won't be tagged (with the new law. DMCA still applies). Also if you use more secure P2P methods.

 

[Seta-San]

you know that laws arn't always there for the majorities convience. Look at abortion, a majority of people OPPOSE it and yet it's been shoved down societies throats by the supreme court. And they probably arn't bribing politicans, they are probably lobbing though. And i say this again, how much money these corporations make is irrelavant. They have the sole right to make money off the music and the sole right to duplicate it. If you don't like it and decide to ignore the law and you get caught you only have yourself to blame. You can't blame the people who make the media, you can't blame the MPAA or the RIAA. It's your fault and nobody elses. And those organizations are more than generous if you get caught. In exchange for a simple written pledge not to do it again and a couple thousand dollars you get off the hook as opposed to like $250,000 and/or jail.

i forgot to mention it sounds alot like most you people would be all for removing ALL copyright law. And if that happens the progresssion of modern art through music and movies will basically go to hell. What's the point of making a really good high budget film when the whole country has already downloaded it before it's official release? Copyright laws protect everyone whether or not you like it.

This is exactly what happens when corporations get too much power and actually one way or another can bribe politicans into creating new laws.

Corpolitical: We aren't making as much money as we possibly can, even though we are making way more than enough.
G-man: So what do you suggest we do about it?
Corpolitical: Send them filesharers to jail, that'll teach them!
G-man: Alright, let's make a new law, yeeehaw!
G-man rolls dice...3
G-man: 3 years in jail for filesharing, sounds good enough?
Corpolitical: Yes, excellent! That'll scare them evildoer-filesharing-terrorists! Soon all their money are belong to us!

I think most people agree that stealing is wrong, but this isn't exactly stealing: It's unauthorized duplication of files. Making people go to jail for this won't help anyone except the corpoliticals. This isn't democracy at all, do you think a majority of the people would vote for or against a law like this?

Something is very very wrong. The corpolitical need to find another way to make more money, include t-shirts, posters hats or other physical bonuses with movies (also at the cinema).

Putting people in jail is only going to cost the society more, besides if the people live through 3 years of hell they will have a hard time adjusting to society again, be in debt and most likely end up in jail again or worse...die! Besides, I don't know about you but if I ever went to jail for something like that I'd be plotting revenge, even if it would cost me my life...