.

Camcording Movies May Become A Felony 


09-29-04
.
(antiMUSIC) The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday making it a felony to video tape a movie in a theatre. Under The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act passed by the House, if a person is caught camcording a movie, they face three years in prison for the first offence and six years if they get caught again. 

This act is not yet the law of the land. The act still must win Senate approval and ultimately Presidential approval. The Senate could vote on the measure as early as next week. 

The camcorders are not the only ones that should beware this new law. The bill includes provisions for internet piracy of music and films that make it easier for the Justice Department to go after online users that share large amounts of copyrighted material. 

This act makes it possible for the Justice Department to go after Internet users that illegally share over 1,000 files online. The current law requires that prosecutors prove that such users willfully distributed the files. Some people were unaware that the programs used to exchange files, make the files the user downloads available. The new law will make it easier for prosecutors to go after such users. And also allows for coordination between the FBI and Internet service providers (ISP), by allowing the FBI to request that ISPs forward warning letters to their customers that are suspected of illegal file sharing. 

The movie industry is understandably pleased with the passage of the bill, however one provision they fought to keep out of the bill was included.  Known as the Family Movie Act, this provision indemnifies companies that create technology that filters out "offensive" content from films for home viewing. 
 


.




advertisement