New Bill Would Finally Make Illegal Streaming a Felony

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

New Bill Would Finally Make Illegal Streaming a Felony

Would mean larger penalties, prison time to play major deterrent

www.nexttv.com

A long-time effort to boost penalties for pirated video streams may have finally met its moment, that being the combination of the explosion of streaming content and over-the-top distribution channels and a COVID-19-sequestered populace for whom online video has become an entertainment lifeline.


Free State Foundation's Seth Cooper, in a blog post late Thursday (Dec. 17) pointed out that the bipartisan Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, which would up those penalties, was at press time still attached to an omnibus spending bill that needs to pass to prevent a government shutdown. That is not to be confused with the COVID-19 aid bill also being worked on, or the Defense authorization bill that just passed but the President has threatened to veto.



Studios, independent producers, and unions have pushed for at least a decade to get Congress to make stealing video streams a felony, as it is for illegally copying and distributing copyrighted TV shows and movies. But that was before must-see TV had morphed into "must stream video," as FCC chairman Ajit Pai put it earlier this week.