Government Urges Making Streaming Pirated Video a Felony | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

 

 

On Tuesday, the Obama administration recommended that the Department of Homeland Security make streaming of copyrighted video a felony, and that it could use wiretaps in the investigation of those offenses.

In a white paper released on Tuesday, the government released a set of recommendations prepared by Victoria Espinel, its Intellectual Property Coordinator.

The paper stiffens the penalties for intellectual property violations, ranging from economic espionage, the sale of counterfeit drugs, and violations of copyright law. In the latter case, the Obama administration asked for increased penalties for repeat offenders, and the right for DHS to confer with rights holders before beginning an investigation or prosecuting the manufacturers of devices which infringed copyright. But the new recommendations also permit “relief,” or exemption from prosecution, for those who unknowingly and unintentionally acquires infringing products and who voluntarily discloses them before becoming aware of a criminal investigation.

via Government Urges Making Streaming Pirated Video a Felony | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.

One of these days I’m going to register the copyright on my own image and then run amok suing people for taking my picture. This is backwards policy making. Corporations exist for the government, not the other way around.