Music industry watch

Yet more crappy copyright legislation

I'm getting tired of posting about Congress making more shitty laws, but we have to fight each and every one of these. This time it is HR2391. Wired news writes:

The bill lumps together several pending copyright bills including HR4077, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act, which would criminally punish a person who "infringes a copyright by ... offering for distribution to the public by electronic means, with reckless disregard of the risk of further infringement." Critics charge the vague language could apply to a person who uses the popular Apple iTunes music-sharing application.

The bill would also permit people to use technology to skip objectionable content -- like a gory or sexually explicit scene -- in films, a right that consumers already have. However, under the proposed language, viewers would not be allowed to use software or devices to skip commericals or promotional announcements "that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or after the performance of the motion picture," like the previews on a DVD. The proposed law also includes language from the Pirate Act (S2237), which would permit the Justice Department to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers.

Also under the proposed law, people who bring a video camera into a movie theater to make a copy of the film for distribution would be imprisoned for three years, fined or both.

Three years prison for copying a movie? That punishment does not fit the crime. And further eroding what we are allowed to do with the technology that we purchase for home use -- essentially taking the broadcast flag one step further.

Its time to contact your senators/representatives again -- it worked for the INDUCE act, so we can get this shelved as well!

Posted by Mayhem at November 17, 2004 03:07 PM