US considering law against online piracy

The US congress is considering a bill to crack down on online piracy.

The bill's supporters say the measure gives copyright owners more ways to fight illegal downloading on the internet.

But some internet companies and legal experts say the move borders censorship.

Al Jazeera's Cath Turner reports from New York.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• americasnews
• online piracy
• internet
• US censorship
• internet censorship
• US congress

[drumONdrugs23]

who the fuck steals hancock? that movie sucked ass. they should just be happy ANYONE is actually watching that piece of shit. either way, media is art. and artists shouldn't care about money. if you're in it just for the money then please don't do it. this way it'll prevent garbage like lady gaga from surfacing and corrupting the minds of our youth into thinking making mindless crap is socially acceptable. resulting in a generation that idols jersey shore and looks down on anything intellectual.

[mahballzrhari]

guys, don't rate this video down. you may not like SOPA but don't dislike aljazeera's reporting of it.

[drumONdrugs23]

@RIAAInformant ya gonna sue the tv now?? X}

[drumONdrugs23]

@RIAAInformant nope! saw it on tv at a friends house. and it was gawd awful crap ^_^.

[RIAAInformant]

@drumONdrugs23 said: "who the fuck steals hancock? that movie sucked ass."

Did you legitimately pay to see this movie, or are you admitting to crimes regarding involvement in online piracy?

Internet piracy, whether passive casual downloading of music, movies and software, or actively engaging in piracy as a for-profit venture, is equally prohibited and considered a felony within the United States, punishable with fines up to 5 million dollars and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

[Jaytyjo]

Thanks for giving this more time and detail than most other news media has. This will cause censorship and mainly the movie and record companies will be the beneficiaries.

[TukenNuken]

I can't help it! I'm descendant of the vikings for god's sake, it's in my blood.

[Th3Wab3]

@Redfingers true enough. the funny thing is that while it may appear that many people that pirate movies are stealing the fact is these people would not have otherwise purchased tix or dvds for the shared/pirated films'. Johanna Blakely gives an interesting TED talk on copyright.. gov't copyright laws don't help industries they contribute to stagnation and decline. This bill if it gets any popularity it will be refined to exempt google from facing consequences. google benefits the govt too much

[mahballzrhari]

@Th3Wab3 they said the same thing about audio and video recorders, that they would bankrupt the movie and music industry but those industries are still going strong, stronger than they were in the 80s and 90s.

[Redfingers]

@Th3Wab3

Well the government does. It's technically illegal to dl shit for your personal use, that's why they sell them in stores, because they intend for you to purchase the license.

However, the issue with this bill extends beyond the issue of counterfeit software or torrents. It gives the ability to the United States government the ability to take websites off the internet for basically any reason, which is why the EFF, the ACLU, and Google are freaking out over it.