Bill S.978 threatens internet freedom

[Harvs]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtex ... l=s112-978

In short, the government is trying to pass a new bill threatening the freedom of the internet. Any videos containing content of TV, Movies, Music, and even Video games without permission of the company, will then be violating the law to be, resulting in a sentence of up to 5 years in jail. And it doesn't matter if you are uploading videos or watching them, it is still against the bill.

If this bill is passed, then the ability to stream, upload, or even watch television shows, movies, music, or video games without permission by the company (such as a stream of Halo videos without the consent and permission of Microsoft) will be punishable by law.

Don't freak out though. Think about this logically. How many of you are safe from this bill? I would bet none of you. So in order to follow this bill, the amount of jails in the U.S. alone would have to triple. That is not going to happen.

On the other hand, major offenders of this bill will be taken down. Such as if you own a site that people go to to watch movies that aren't out of the theaters yet. And if a few people are sent to jail, the several sites like that, including Youtube, will put an end to uploading content that violates the bill. Walkthroughs, Let's Plays, Streams, and even Reviews.

If you have any questions on the bill, go to Youtube and search for "S.978" That should clear things up.

If you are against this bill and do not want to see it passed, then I encourage you to spend 20 seconds of your life and sign up here: http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/te ... 896.5hVZPC

If anyone else would like to elaborate more on this subject on something that I missed, then please be my guest.

Also, I'm pretty sure I posted this message in the correct place, but if not, please just move this to the right area and do not close this down. This message has to be known.

[Ultra Fox]

This thing sucks.

[FlipMode]

As somewhat of a LetsPlayer, it is the biggest load of rubbish I have heard for a while. I think it only applies to USA citizens though lol, but other countries might follow suit...

[Jiirani]

Oh dear lord o.e

[Simbaholikov]

Lol, there is NO way that this is going through..
And neither of those links work.

[Harvs]

[quote="Simbaholic"]Lol, there is NO way that this is going through..
And neither of those links work. [/quote]

Think about this. They will go after the big names in this whole thing. And once the big guys fall, the rest of the internet won't take any chances. Youtube is owned by Google, a corporate company. So they will do whatever gets them money. Do you think they will get money when people hear that most of the members upload videos that have copyright infringement and possibly some of the members were arrested? No. Google will not allow that. This bill could very well be passed. And the more you deny it, the more it's going to bite you in the butt if it does happen.

Oh, and the links work now.

[FlipMode]

[TheGunner18]

I can only hope the UK doesn't get affected. I still went to the site and added a bit to that letter myself Then I sent it obviously

[KopsTheTerminator]

[quote="FlipMode"][/quote]

LOL. Freaking America, wanting to ruin everything. Oh well, at least I'll be an European gangsta if that law is passed.

[FlipMode]

They actually are trolling though lol. They say the jails are getting full, and then try to pass a law which puts people in jail for singing karaoke / paradoies on the internet >.>. So if you make a fan dub, or sing a cover and a certain number of people watch it, you are off to jail. That is pretty lolworthy.

My guess is that they will issue fines and all that stuff with it, possibly shut down minor sites and send a few culprits to jail. They will probably make an example of smaller sites, so the big names like YouTube take heed and change all of their uploading rules. So sure, we in EU will not be apply to the law, but it still will affect us in terms of uploading content to the internet. If someone from the EU, uploads to a USA hosting site, it makes that site the criminal in this case.