Watered down copyright act
p2pnet.net News:- Hollywood did its damndest to force the Intellectual Property Protection Act (HR2391) through.
It failed, but not altogether.
The IPPA was a mash-up of other bills and if the entertainment industry had managed to sleeze it past congress, “opponents charge [it] could make many users of peer-to-peer networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for copyright infringement,” said Wired News, going on, “The bill would also undo centuries of ‘fair use’ – the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works of others without having to ask permission or pay.”
The act was in effect transmuted to SB3021, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2004.
Under it, “People who secretly videotape movies when they are shown in theaters could go to prison for up to three years under the measure,” says Reuters. “Hackers and industry insiders who distribute music, movies or other copyrighted works before their official release date also face stiffened penalties under the bill.”
But, “Left out were several more controversial measures that would criminalize the actions of millions of U.S. Internet users who copy music and movies for free over ‘peer to peer’ networks”.
Watered down it may be but, “We’d still rather see nothing than this,” EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) lawyer Wendy Seltzer is quoted as saying in Wired News.
Go here for a .pdf
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See:-
damndest - Copyright act forced through?, p2pnet, November 16, 2004
criminally liable – Senate May Ram Copyright Bill, Wired News, November 16, 2004
go to prison – U.S. Senate Passes Scaled-Back Copyright Measure, Reuters, November 22, 2004
rather see nothing – A Kinder, Gentler Copyright Bill?, Wired News, November 22, 2004
November 23rd, 2004 at 10:31 pm
“official release date”
This is a very relative and nebulous term which has tremendous potential for abuse.
there are “official release dates” for not only cinema, but dvd’s of those same movies, then the “official release” to rental stores, the “official release” to showtime & movie channels, and finally the “official release” to network tv.
there are also “official releases” of works in other nations long before there are, if ever “official releases” in the united states.
so, which “official release” date are we targeting here?
November 24th, 2004 at 4:51 am
More than likely all of them!!!!!!