I’m sure that this will somehow create jobs or something, and is obviously an extraordinarily important issue to the American people
The White House today proposed sweeping revisions to U.S. copyright law, including making “illegal streaming” of audio or video a federal felony and allowing FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers.
In a 20-page white paper (PDF), the Obama administration called on the U.S. Congress to fix “deficiencies that could hinder enforcement” of intellectual property laws.
Obviously, the deficit, debt reduction, a budget, Middle East/North Africa strife, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, high unemployment, and a raft of other issues are just distractions from this vitally important issue. Along with picking his NCAA brackets.
Under federal law, wiretaps may only be conducted in investigations of serious crimes, a list that was expanded by the 2001 Patriot Act to include offenses such as material support of terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The administration is proposing to add copyright and trademark infringement, arguing that move “would assist U.S. law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate those offenses.”
Got that? Copyright infringement would be classified the same as terrorism, excuse me, Operation Overseas Contingency, and pedophilia. Now, if Bush proposed this, the Normal Liberal Players would be screaming about “tearing the Constitution.”
The White House is concerned that “illegal streaming of content” may not be covered by criminal law, saying “questions have arisen about whether streaming constitutes the distribution of copyrighted works.” To resolve that ambiguity, it wants a new law to “clarify that infringement by streaming, or by means of other similar new technology, is a felony in appropriate circumstances.”
So, if you snag a copy of a, say, ABC News video, and upload it to Youtube, congratulations, you’ll be a felon!
