Bill S. 978

[Dark0ne]

We're all agreed that watching paid-for-TV or paid-for-movies on a free and unlicensed streaming service is a form of piracy, and ergo illegal though, right?

 

In the UK there's a growing problem with football (or soccer..) streaming. Our satellite or cable TV costs about £25/month for the sports package alone, but if you stream it off someone who is uploading it then you can watch the matches for free without paying. Should it be illegal? Of course it should. These cable companies pay hundreds of millions for the exclusive rights to broadcast these matches; money that goes to the football clubs themselves.

 

I'm hoping everyone here is arguing for this perceived collateral damage; things being made illegal that shouldn't be made illegal, and not about the issue that started this: the free streaming of content that is a premium service.

[marharth]

The movie industry doesn't care whom they hurt, just so long as THEIR interests are protected. Same as the recording industry. Just who is it you think is responsible for directsound going the way of the dodo with Windows Vista?

Any industry doesn't care who they hurt as long as their interests are protected...

 

Also it is definitely bought.

 

Also pretty sure it was started by democrats as well, not sure if that's right or not.

 

Bill was introduced by folks from both sides of the aisle. Why does that matter?

It doesn't matter.

 

Just pointing out how both sides are corrupt.

[ub3rman123]

Am I correct in assuming that there are already anti-piracy laws in place to prevent the TV and film industry from this? It seems like just extra legislation that doesn't do anything but hurt people it shouldn't.

[HeyYou]

The movie industry doesn't care whom they hurt, just so long as THEIR interests are protected. Same as the recording industry. Just who is it you think is responsible for directsound going the way of the dodo with Windows Vista?

Any industry doesn't care who they hurt as long as their interests are protected...

 

Also it is definitely bought.

 

Also pretty sure it was started by democrats as well, not sure if that's right or not.

 

Bill was introduced by folks from both sides of the aisle. Why does that matter?

It doesn't matter.

 

Just pointing out how both sides are corrupt.

 

That's a given. Politicians in general are synonymous with corruption.

[marharth]

We're all agreed that watching paid-for-TV or paid-for-movies on a free and unlicensed streaming service is a form of piracy, and ergo illegal though, right?

 

In the UK there's a growing problem with football (or soccer..) streaming. Our satellite or cable TV costs about £25/month for the sports package alone, but if you stream it off someone who is uploading it then you can watch the matches for free without paying. Should it be illegal? Of course it should. These cable companies pay hundreds of millions for the exclusive rights to broadcast these matches; money that goes to the football clubs themselves.

 

I'm hoping everyone here is arguing for this perceived collateral damage; things being made illegal that shouldn't be made illegal, and not about the issue that started this: the free streaming of content that is a premium service.

I beleive there are already laws in place to stop streaming like that.

 

To my knowledge this bill would make it extremely strict, and the laws already in place are fine.

 

Of course if you stream a premium service or a TV show or movie it should be illegal, and I think that is already covered by US law. Not sure how it is in the UK though.

[Aurielius]

There seems to be a modern attitude that everything on the Internet should be free and that there is no such thing as intellectual property rights. If the rightful owners of a piece of film, music or a game cannot control the distribution of their property then what incentive does the original author have to publish? Some of my younger friends feel that is their god given right to acquire via streaming anything without paying for it, it may make me seem dated but to my generation thats just stealing under another guise. This new medium is just like the wild west before any form of law arrived, there will always be some that whinging about the restrictions that come with legislation but the same view was taken about the institution of patent rights when it too was introduced. Financial compensation for work done is really not such an evil, it's called capitalism.

[Vagrant0]

Here's the thought that didn't occur to them... If law enforcement can't even curtail illegal downloading and bootlegging of this media, how do they hope to stop streaming (which was actually leading to a decline in other forms of piracy and hurting people who actually make money off bootlegs)?

 

Nevermind the fact that this won't have any affect on anyone outside the US, especially after other countries see how badly it works. Have to wonder who they're really fooling here. :facepalm:

[ziitch]

What it boils down to is that we seem to keep trying to apply the same old economic and business solutions to the problems of a medium that's completely unique in itself; while tried-and-true laws and techniques might work with physical products, digital products work in a completely different way and have some dependencies that physical objects don't need. In other words, we need to stop trying to apply these techniques and laws, and instead try to think of new unique solutions specifically tailored to the digital markets, as it takes unique approaches to monitor and maintain unique conditions.

[IndorilTheGreat]

Here's the thought that didn't occur to them... If law enforcement can't even curtail illegal downloading and bootlegging of this media, how do they hope to stop streaming (which was actually leading to a decline in other forms of piracy and hurting people who actually make money off bootlegs)?

 

Nevermind the fact that this won't have any affect on anyone outside the US, especially after other countries see how badly it works. Have to wonder who they're really fooling here. :facepalm:

 

Precisely. What are they going to do; arrest the US population of YouTube?

 

Somehow, I get the feeling that this Bill is being passed just to keep someone (or some group) happy and quiet.

[marharth]

There is massive difference between streaming game play, and illegally downloading games.

 

It without question helps game companies to have people showing off their game, its free advertisement. It would not hurt sales in any way.

 

People seem to think that its legal to watch movies and tv shows online, not sure why people think that.

 

The host clearly has something that is not their property, it piracy.

 

It is illegal to host copyrighted movies and TV shows, and it is illegal to live stream such things.

 

 

This bill wants to extend of the above, and make streaming game play footage and other things illegal as well.

 

Streaming premium services, copyrighted TV shows, copyrighted movies, and copyrighted music is already illegal. This bill won't change that, it will add more things to it.