On The Streaming Infringement Bill

[Jul 03, 2011, 12:58 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The Word of Notch has a post about Bill S.978, which is currently being considered by the U.S. Senate: "to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes." The bill: "Makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Illegal streaming of copyrighted content is defined in the bill as an offense that 'consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works' and has a total economic value, either to the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500." This is opposed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but has the support of AFTRA, SAG, MPAA, RIAA, and other copyright-lovers. As Notch notes, this has raised concerns that it could criminalize the simple act of uploading a gameplay video, and while it's hard to imagine such fair use scenarios becoming illegal, he offers the straightforward way Mojang would handle it should such a law come to pass:

If the bill passes, I suspect many game companies (including us) will add a special clause to the TOS specifically to allow posting videos of their games. A huge part of why Minecraft has grown so fast is the YouTube community.

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41 Replies. 3 pages. Viewing page 1.
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41.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 5, 2011, 01:19

Dev

StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 5, 2011, 00:05: ViRGE wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 13:43: AnointedSword wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 13:38: Read the law closely and let your brains catch up. Your video games will be safe. Exactly. Every time I see this bill mentioned followed by unfounded panicking, my head implodes just a bit. It's not about going after people streaming games, it's about people streaming TV shows and movies (note the sponsors). The courts often do not recognize streaming as being downloading, so traditional laws against the downloading of copyrighted material have not been applicable to streaming. This closes that loophole. The idea that it's going to be applied to game streaming is ridiculous. If there was a problem, companies would already be issuing DMCA takedowns against such videos on YouTube, which they aren't. That said, adding a clause to the ToS does help to resolve any ambiguity. Like many things however it's not the specific intent of the bill which is scary, but the wider ramifications that could result. Yeah. No one would have predicted that DMCA applied to printer cartridges, or apply to tape backup machines, or some of the other weird things its been stretched to.

40.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 5, 2011, 00:05

StingingVelvet

ViRGE wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 13:43: AnointedSword wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 13:38: Read the law closely and let your brains catch up. Your video games will be safe. Exactly. Every time I see this bill mentioned followed by unfounded panicking, my head implodes just a bit. It's not about going after people streaming games, it's about people streaming TV shows and movies (note the sponsors). The courts often do not recognize streaming as being downloading, so traditional laws against the downloading of copyrighted material have not been applicable to streaming. This closes that loophole. The idea that it's going to be applied to game streaming is ridiculous. If there was a problem, companies would already be issuing DMCA takedowns against such videos on YouTube, which they aren't. That said, adding a clause to the ToS does help to resolve any ambiguity. Like many things however it's not the specific intent of the bill which is scary, but the wider ramifications that could result.

39.

Re: we must repeat

Jul 4, 2011, 15:04

sorted

space captain wrote on Jul 4, 2011, 11:53:
the travel which has built my career has been necessarily multi-dimensional, hyper-dimensional, meta-temporal, so forth and so on

if your mind is not open and elastic, it will snap like a twig under such duress

espionage requires disguise, and hiding in plain sight is indeed the ultimate mask... a requisite to ensure the survival of life in the face of its ignorant spite for itself

once you can see suicide and genocide on the same coin, then we can talk about subspace signals...

oh my captain, oh my SPACE! captain!




"You've heard about the pyramids? This is like the pyramids times ten."

38.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 4, 2011, 12:29

Hump

This will change no one's behavior. It will simply give the MPAA/RIAA another questionable revenue stream that uses courts as their collectors and rewards them for not changing their business models to come in line with the rest of the 21st century.




---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue." - Jim Goad

37.

we must repeat

Jul 4, 2011, 11:53

space captain

the travel which has built my career has been necessarily multi-dimensional, hyper-dimensional, meta-temporal, so forth and so on

if your mind is not open and elastic, it will snap like a twig under such duress

espionage requires disguise, and hiding in plain sight is indeed the ultimate mask... a requisite to ensure the survival of life in the face of its ignorant spite for itself

once you can see suicide and genocide on the same coin, then we can talk about subspace signals...




Go forth, and kill!

36.

Re: are we not men?

Jul 4, 2011, 10:48

Wolfen

InBlack wrote on Jul 4, 2011, 10:37: I can never quite work out if Space Captain is being sarcastic or deadly serious. Or just high on LSD. Communism cant be as bad as what we have now, can it? Actually, I think what he is implying this time is "Ignorance is bliss".

35.

Re: are we not men?

Jul 4, 2011, 10:37

InBlack

I can never quite work out if Space Captain is being sarcastic or deadly serious. Or just high on LSD.

Communism cant be as bad as what we have now, can it?




I have a nifty blue line!

34.

are we not men?

Jul 4, 2011, 10:04

space captain

you know that nobody knows anything, right? they let the govt rule their minds, and they let their minds rule their potential... shit, they get off on it! their abdication of any responsibility for their own life is like an orgasmic hypnosis




Go forth, and kill!

33.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 4, 2011, 09:45

Dev

kookaveetsa wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 21:48: There's too many inconsistencies in this so called considered bill, it'll never pass. You know they pass these things without ever reading them, right?

32.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 4, 2011, 05:11

InBlack

I think they should add an ammendment to the bill that states, "for every illegal upload one of the culprit's fingers/digits shal be removed" just to make the law more "american".

This comment was edited on Jul 4, 2011, 08:14.




I have a nifty blue line!

31.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 23:25

dubfanatic

kookaveetsa wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 21:48: There's too many inconsistencies in this so called considered bill, it'll never pass. It sounds like you are under the impression that the US legislature considers that a priority. This is incorrect. The fact that this corporate-backed bill is getting fast tracked to the Senate floor while bills that could solve real problems languish in committee should show you where their priorities really lie.

30.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 21:48

kookaveetsa

There's too many inconsistencies in this so called considered bill, it'll never pass.




"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein

29.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 20:30

MisterBenn

I wonder whether "unsympathetic" displays of impending games will be allowed to remain on YouTube after this law. Some games get the piss taken out of them mercilessly on YogTrailers for example, I wonder whether things like this could end up being pulled...

http://www.youtube.com/user/yogscast2#p/u/25/MyrlevOwl2Y

With the investment in marketing and the information lockdown that happens before a game's release, I always thought that companies must hate that stuff being out there. Good viewing though!




Playing: Path of Exile, Trials Gold, DOTP 2013.

28.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 20:24

space captain

cronik wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 19:44:
The peasants better get used to the fact they don't have rights, they have owners!

as long as the slaves think that they are the owners, it all works out perfectly fine because they just stay snug as a bug in a rug that way




Go forth, and kill!

27.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 20:08

Dev

Its not like the senate has anything better to do I guess... such as the budget, or the wars, or anything. Umbragen wrote on Jul 3, 2011, 19:58: Wait till the turn over enforcement to the (presumed) injured parties, they'll have to invent new words to describe and justify that mess. Just don't doubt that that day is coming. MPAA/RIAA/**AA already does raids, no need to wait.

26.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 19:58

Umbragen

Wait till the turn over enforcement to the (presumed) injured parties, they'll have to invent new words to describe and justify that mess. Just don't doubt that that day is coming.

25.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 19:44

cronik

The peasants better get used to the fact they don't have rights, they have owners!

24.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 19:37

Jackplug

This doesn't bother me in the slightest, ok I don't live in the US, but the only thing that does bothers me is what follows this if it passes. What other laws get passed to uphold this one, to make this one stand tall, that is what scares me. Look at us in the UK, jeez we've got a dandy of a copyright law coming out and that will piss a lot of ppl off and to think these laws is how they will kill off piracy...

23.

removed

Jul 3, 2011, 19:24

Marvin T. Martian

* REMOVED * This comment was deleted on Jul 4, 2011, 13:46.

22.

Re: On The Streaming Infringement Bill

Jul 3, 2011, 19:23

tuddies

more GAY legislation by a country too concerned with perpetual war, private profit and the public subsidy of both! Give these morons a 365 day vacation, for America's sake! For all our sakes!

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