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Congress approves COVID-19 spending bill with contentious copyright measures [View all]
Source: Engadget
Congress approves COVID-19 spending bill with contentious copyright measures
Streaming illegal content for profit is now a felony.
Steve Dent, @stevetdent
8h ago
US Congress has finally passed a new spending bill with COVID-19 relief measures, which on the one hand is good news for many Americans. As often happens with crucial legislation, however, lawmakers tacked on some extra legislation, including a controversial copyright bill called the CASE Act. They make illegal streaming for profit a felony and could see individual internet users being fined up to $30,000 simply for sharing memes, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other consumer rights groups.
The $2.3 trillion spending bill, which includes a $900 billion pandemic relief measure, is one of the longest ever passed at 5,593 pages. Under the main provisions, everyone who makes under $75,000 will get a check for $600, along with $600 for each dependent child. It also extends the moratorium for evictions until the end of January and includes $284 billion in loans for businesses, CBS News notes.
Along with that badly needed relief, however, it includes copyright measures introduced with little to no debate. As such, they haven’t even been read by many lawmakers, let alone the general public.
The felony streaming bill, introduced by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, targets people who provide illegal streaming services for profit. If convicted, those folks could face significant fines or jail time. It doesn’t appear to criminalize, say, Twitch or Twitch streamers “who may include unlicensed works as part of their streams,” according to Public Knowledge senior policy counsel Meredith Rose. However, since no one has been able to study the bill closely, its impact is not yet clear.
-snip-
Streaming illegal content for profit is now a felony.
Steve Dent, @stevetdent
8h ago
US Congress has finally passed a new spending bill with COVID-19 relief measures, which on the one hand is good news for many Americans. As often happens with crucial legislation, however, lawmakers tacked on some extra legislation, including a controversial copyright bill called the CASE Act. They make illegal streaming for profit a felony and could see individual internet users being fined up to $30,000 simply for sharing memes, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other consumer rights groups.
The $2.3 trillion spending bill, which includes a $900 billion pandemic relief measure, is one of the longest ever passed at 5,593 pages. Under the main provisions, everyone who makes under $75,000 will get a check for $600, along with $600 for each dependent child. It also extends the moratorium for evictions until the end of January and includes $284 billion in loans for businesses, CBS News notes.
Link to tweet
Along with that badly needed relief, however, it includes copyright measures introduced with little to no debate. As such, they haven’t even been read by many lawmakers, let alone the general public.
The felony streaming bill, introduced by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, targets people who provide illegal streaming services for profit. If convicted, those folks could face significant fines or jail time. It doesn’t appear to criminalize, say, Twitch or Twitch streamers “who may include unlicensed works as part of their streams,” according to Public Knowledge senior policy counsel Meredith Rose. However, since no one has been able to study the bill closely, its impact is not yet clear.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/covid-19-spending-bill-passes-with-new-streaming-copyright-law-tacked-on-102046838.html
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Related: Today: Tell Congress Not To Bankrupt Internet Users (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
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