New Bill In Congress Could Turn Alternative Media Outlets and YouTube Singers Into Felons [View All]

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AlterNet / By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

New Bill In Congress Could Turn Alternative Media Outlets and YouTube Singers Into Felons
SB 978 is just one more bullet in a broader government effort to end the web as we know it.

October 31, 2011 |


In June, Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced SB 978, specifically “to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes.”

In lay terms, it’s the “illegal streaming bill,” and it would essentially make the streaming of any copyrighted material on the Internet a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. On paper, it sounds innocuous—copyrighted material and the Internet have a contentious history, and efforts to curb piracy have conflicted with the concept of the Internet as a free exchange for information. But SB 978 is a sweeping curtailing of Internet rights under the guise of hindering piracy, and just one more bullet in a broader government effort to end the web as we know it, and snip away at the First Amendment.

Worse is the potential of SB 978 to prosecute those individuals uploading YouTube videos. This will not simply target those people uploading full movies there or to other video streaming sites. It could also be used to curb individual musicians who upload their cover versions of copyrighted songs, a tradition that practically made YouTube what it is today. The nonprofit Fight for the Future is particularly concerned with this aspect, and has launched a campaign called “Free Bieber,” using the example of Justin Bieber’s rise to fame as a way to get out the message. (Ironically, Bieber’s camp has issued a cease-and-desist over using his name in the campaign.) ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/152920/new_bill_in_congress_could_turn_alternative_media_outlets_and_youtube_singers_into_felons/