Rep Lamar Smith wants to make it a federal crime to record movies during a cinema performance.

His HR 2517, the so-called Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003, is meant to, "enhance the government's resources for prosecuting intellectual property crimes, and involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice in educating and warning the public regarding internet based copyright infringement".

Backing Smith when he sponsored it to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property (CIIP) on July 17 were, of course, fellow RIAA/MPAA enthusiasts Hollywood Howard Berman and John Conyers.

Rep Rick Boucher doesn't like it. Not at all. But the entertainment industry at large and the FBI, love it and now Smith wants an amendment in "the Nature of a Substitute" to make it a federal crime to, "record a copyrighted motion picture as it is being performed or displayed in a theater".

But, says Smith in a statement, his substitution doesn't include, "a corresponding penalty" so to put that right, "The Subcommittee intends to work with the Department of Justice, and the affected private parties on an appropriate penalty," he states. [Our emphasis.]

Involve "affected private parties,' hmm?

Smith was inspired, perhaps, by Michael Speck, a music industry 'enforcer' who did his best to have himself inserted into a sentencing procedure in Australia.

At the moment, it's merely a misdemeanor to record a movie in a theatre.

appropriate penalty??? I guess there'll be a lot more use of the execution facilities all around the country if the industry has anything to say about it.

Cut off their hands. They will never do it again.

I see Boycott-mpaa.com in our future.

I'm shocked... not that theres corruption in the government, not that its widespread, but that they are so powerful as to do something like this, in complete public view.

agreed Napstersghost

I'd like to add that we should ban one(RIAA) into oblivion before starting on the second. I think the MPAA is a little smarter(a little), so hopefully they'll get the message.

lets see, smoking and possesing small quantities of pot is a misdemeaner but taping a movie is a federal offense. Now I see where their priorities are

I'm shocked some idiot would actually attempt going into a movie theatre with a movie camera.

MAN IN A YEAR THEY WILL HAVE YOU EXECUTED FOR RECORDING A MOVIE

good point stryker, they should just download it, but this is still
a) waste of resources
b) useless law

People who vote in people like Rep Lamar Smith need to be hunted down and shot!

the risk of videotaping a movie that's going to be out on DVD or PPV in a couple of months is just not worth the risk involved with going to jail.now the MPAA wants to it a felonious crime. give me a break. there goes the word "piracy" again.

why record a movie in the theater? Just wait for some Hollywood nitwit to provide a DVD screener (maybe from Jack Valenti himself!) & cop it that way.

Why don't we save a lot of time and simply make it a federal offense to make a movie?

it's all a joke. besides the movie, once it's out in circulation, the value of the movie declines in value. both in value of the cost of the movie and the sentinmentality of it. the risk is just not worth the crime. the same goes with a CD. after hearing the song over and over again, the love for it is just not the same as when you first hear it.

a felony. i guess if it's wrong, it's wrong and there's no two ways about it. if you illegally record a movie, that's a felony.

why not make everything that's currently illegal a felony just to provide extra deterrence. driving drunk in and of itself is worse than pirating a movie. why not send everybody that tests above the legal limit to jail. if you burn a cd for a friend, you go to jail. or how about a copyright version of the patriot act. if you donate to a cause opposing the RIAA (i.e. here) you go to jail.

why stop there?
why not put cameras up everywhere? super-accurate satellite cams, cams on traffic lights to catch speeders? how about a place like wal mart? I know kids that have stolen stuff from there. maybe they should put more cameras in wal mart than fort knox.

oh wait. my every move has already been recorded 5,000 times over during a trip from my house to wal-mart.

seriously, a felony for pirating a movie? what the hell? chop of my hand for stealing while you're at it.

i hate the babyboomer generation and everything they've touched.

don't we have enough fricken security and deterrence? god forbid someone do something wrong. I guess if the problem doesn't disappear then either:

A. There aren't enough cameras
B. The punishment isn't bad enough.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that despite how much our dictator-wannabe congressmen and corporate goons want to be able to dicate what is legal or not and be able to enforce it, it will always remain the case that what is deviant and wrong will ALWAYS be determined by the society in which that act is committed.

Just like hand chopping in some countries for stealing has been accepted, it is accepted here that speeding up to 10mph over in most places is acceptable. Tickets won't be handed out regardless of the blatent committing of a misdemeaner right in the face of a cop because society won't stand for it. Get with the times fools. Jack Valenti and Cary Sherman do not, and will never dictate right and wrong in america. Nor will President Bush and his idiot friend Orrin Hatch.

What makes the people in power in our country suddenly feel so strongly that all current problems are the result of not having the severity of the punishment quadroupled recently? Are they actually too stupid to realize that things change over time? Either way they're a waste of space.

And what's with the names for these bills? Piracy Deterrence and EDUCATION?

Isn't it more like the "Jailing of Those Who Misuse Video Cameras Act"? Piracy Deterrence and Education... please.

I'll believe it when I can enroll in a 3 credit hour piracy education class at my school so I can learn how piracy affects the humanities. Where's my education, I'm waiting.

One day soon, people will rebel. Unless of course these idiots can crank down education and make us as stupid as the proles(1984). Even if they did that, there are many countries that wouldn't stand for it.

Who says they haven't already cranked down our education. Here in Indiana we have the damnable ISTEP standardized test. Schools qualify for funding on how well their average on the ISTEP is. As a result teachers teach mainly the material on the ISTEP instead of problem solving and freethinking. Thankfully though, most children today learn from other sources such as TV, the Internet or from the street.

good point

Too many tests, not enough actual teaching. The class I believe I learn the most in is World History, and why should they crack down on that? English 2 is following the stupid bush policies(latin roots everyday, short story everyday).

Latin is an education. Stories promote imagination. Anti-Piracy propaganda promote confusion and revultion. Getting an education is the act of learning. Being educated is having another's opinion or representation of facts instilled into your mind. There is a big difference.

Perhaps they should call it the "Piracy Detterence and Educating Act"

Interesting timing as well, I was told today by a reporter that the bill is going for "mark up" (editing and changes)in committee on Tuesday October 7th...

Think a minute. What will every reporter in the country be doing tomorrow? Watching the California Recall election to see who gets terminated.

Not since the DMCA was passed at the height of the Monica Lewinsky affair and Impeachment hearings has there been a more flagrant attempt at "flying under the radar" on a piece of legislation (with the possible exception of the RIAA trying to get parts of their agenda into the Patriot Act)

A friend of mine suggested to Schwarzenegger's campaign that he should support legal file-sharing by releasing some of his movies into the public domain for file sharer's. Guess what the response was... go ahead, guess...

That's right, no f***ing way. They said that the studios own the rights to the movies, and Ah-nuld would not be able to get them to do that (even if it would win him the election by securing the gratitude of California's enormous file-sharing population).

Shermantor..said "i hate the babyboomer generation and everything they've touched."

Aw come on now...Bill Evans the founder of boycott-riaa is a boomer, as is the Leflaw the owner...heck even codewarrior is a boomer..

thumbtack: I know. I thought about mentioning "except Bill Evans" but I wasn't sure how old he was. Or putting in a disclaimer that I've seen good babyboomers with my own two eyes. Just not many. But it would have ruined my post =)

*gives Mr. Evans & Leflaw a mushy, warm embrace*

Chop Chop BuCock Long Dong Tuey BOOM BOOM RIAA!!!!

I never even drove a bmw.

death penalty for parking violations

heh. Me too. (What's a bmw?)

whoa. lay off the boomers, it's absolute power that corrupts absolutely. besides we getting to old to kick some a**. 10/4 flbgbt!!!!!

I see boycott-govt.com boycott-entertainmentindustry.com and boycott-FBI.com comming soon. anayways, Laws are no means of keeping people form doing something. Also the so called act is a violation of my rights and I will never follow it, even if it becomes law. Yet another step closer to a world govt. which isn't a good thing, trust me it isn't....

The media is too powerfull. It want's us to become it's pawns, most are, but then there is us, we are the ones who won't play their games and settle for crap. We are the power, they fear us, we should drive this fear so deep into them in our attacks against them that they crumble and fall as the evil dictators that they are. They wish our woruld was a Matrix, in which they where the computers and macheines that had the controol over us, then there was the resistance to the matrix, and the rest well you'll have to see the movies to find out...

just a thought guys but how about we handle real issues and problems in this country justly. Let's see, rape, burglary, murder... all violent crimes, all pose a threat to everyone yet we treat these crimes lightly yet if you record a song or movie, or you are caught with drugs you go to jail for years. How about we actually make laws that reflect crimes, what happened to an eye for an eye? Let's press the death penalty for extremely violent felons, make drug use laws that help the addict recover, and lets not make it a felony if you download a song for god sakes. This country has gone mad and lacks complete common sense!

As far as the sherminator's comments go i think he or she has touched upon a point that really in my eyes is the main complaint i have with the RIAA invading our privacy. We are entering another guilded age in which our governments are using technology to supress the livelyhood of the average citizen. If you take a look back at the beginning of the century through the mid-late century times were much different. Our government didn't have all of the devices that we have today in order to engage in a TECHNOLOGICAL WARFARE against common peoples. Radar Guns, Computers, Breathalizers, Security cams, ect.. Our government and big business are using these tools to further oppress our peoples. I remember that i got pulled over for going 7 miles an hour over the speed limit and recieved a ticket for it. The ironic twist about this is that the moron cop who was at least in his 50's joked about the fact that him and his friends used to go over 100 mph on their motorcycles and at the time there was nothing the authorities could really do to catch you in the act. We need to limit the powers of authority so we can preserve out liberties. The new acts that have and will be passed through congress will even futher limit our freedoms unless they are checked. Back to the ticket deal, do you think it's fair to have to pay an $80 fine for going 7 mph over the speed limit? Hells no. Do you think it's fair to be sued for potentially millions of dollars for having a few songs on your computers? Once again, hell no! Since money and power can buy the technological tools in order to further oppress people and make the gap of power even further apart there has to be a major change in our laws so that people have the freedoms that we deserve. Every thing we do nowadays is recorded, documented, and scrutinized by our gratious authorities and this current trend has to stop before we all are prisoners of our so called democratic government. It is starting to look hippocritical for the United States in that our country critisizes cuba for infringing on their peoples rights when in reality we are just as opressed as the average cuban in some ways. To sum up my point, we need to regain our freedoms back like our forefathers guaranteed us and by boycotting the RIAA and the new privacy stealing bills introduced into congress and this issue of the RIAA is just the tip of the iceberg.....

I sat on the hood oof a BMW once..

yeah rape and kill people... but if we catch you recording a movie then THAT'S going TOO FAR


fuckin whatever people.

Thanks for the support Justin. When the big brother topic arises I feel it's my duty to promote this website: http://opengov.media.mit.edu/

It, or sites like it, may be our source of power in the future. Based on Total Information Awareness, it's some citizens attempts on Total (Government) Info. Awareness.

You're right on with everything you said. The gap between what the government can do and what the people have the ability to know about is increasing because the walls that cloak them in secrecy are not as much physical anymore as they are digital.

Some people criticize me going off on this tangent because I'm 'mad about not being able to download songs.'

It doesn't get tiring educating people, but man, it gets tiring explaining the connection to people who are too damn stubborn to accept it anyway.

What the RIAA is doing is an example of abuse and control of citizens through corporate power.

The law the RIAA is using is an example of corporate presence in our government as well as an example of just one unjust law that has been snuck by behind our backs.

The fact that a lot of people justify what the RIAA is doing because it is "legal" is an example of the massive ignorance among US citizens. We know there always has been, is, and will be problems with laws as well as stupid laws and laws people hate. The DMCA (and the Patriot Act) are very much in defiance of certain parts of our constitution. While some say "it's ok because it's legal," you can always be confident that you are 100% in the right when you say "it's wrong because it's unconstitutional in every sense of the word. And our apathy, ignorance, lack of fair media, and increasingly secretive government which exploits the technological gap between government and citizens are the reasons why the people's officials are stepping on the people.

There's nothing we can do except vote some out and pretend it made a difference, then turn around and elect more of the same.

This quote is taken from the link I posted above. It hasn't taken off yet, nor is it completed. Do yourselves a favor and bookmark it:


"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both."
- James Madison (Fourth President of the United States)

it all started with this 1998 DMCA act to protect the RIAA and MPAA copyright songs and movies. it was not intended to be targeted against the consumer, the same patrons that keep these conglomerates in business. now with this domino effect of the RIAA sue em all campaign, the MPAA wants to even up the score with their movies. the whole situation is going all out of order and the laws that are to protect us are being amended to harm us. pretty soon the FBI will be storming down everybody's door and start taking away our camcorders and computers as edvidence of copywright infringement tools and throw us all in the slammer. pretty soon we will be living in a RIAA/MPAA controlled nazi like environment where every thing you watch, do, and say will be held against you if they have their way. they have the money and power and with that, it can bribe congressmmembers and senators to make laws to suit their comfort as so as they please. the DMCA act must be abolished, otherwise this great country we know as america will be bought out with laws that will destroy it's own countrymen. for a movie or a song

Wonders if the next thing he will ban in a movie theatre is kissing

TheSherminator: right on, kudos to you.

viperpa33s --- I doubt it. HOWEVER, it might be copyright infringing since I bet it happened in a movie once. You are infringing the copyrights for personal gain (kissing a boy/girl). Thats a big nono, unless you pay off the RIAA. Kinda makes you want to point Al Quaida towards RIAA headquarters and see what happens... :-/

Yea, why the twin towers where there were only working class folks like all of us here? Why not a popular hangout of the billionaires, millionaires and CEOs?

~goingnova

I wonder how all of this is is going to be enforced. I mean movies and music are international products do they actually think that every country in the world that has a market for these products is going to make it illegal. So what if you have a friend in Canada or Mexico or some other country and they put all their mp3's for downloading is it illegal then? Just a thought.

Release dates, remember? Movies are first released in US cinemas. All those downloaders who want to see the newest films before anyone else need those cam copies. Im not sure if this would actually deter any tapers through

this whole thing is simple we need a time travel back to the days are for fathers wear passing the bill of rights in impose into that bill curch-state and bissness shall be sepert and thats the bottom line i wish are for fathers would have relized the abuse money could have on are GUV. then this whole mess would be strate maybe lol thay would have found some way to brake it down over the years but bye then we would be in this day and age and thair would be nothing thanks to the internet thay could do about it congress would be a whole diffront thing hatch would have neaver been elected becose he would have never had bizness backing his pocket book it would be a better world all around

Just ran across this, thought it was funny.

http://forums.furthurnet.org/viewtopic.php?t=12394

To 'Justin42980' about the point you raised about the hypocrisy of our lecturing foreign countries on human rights while giving a pass to the RIAA / MPAA abuses: That's what I've been saying all along.

In addition, there is another perspective on this whole schleboodle, found in http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dougbandow/db20031006.shtml - while it seems to be a "have it both ways" type article (from my reading of it, anyway), the writer certainly agrees that in their anti-technology vendetta, they've gone too far. And he had a word for the industry's purported "linking" of P2P and pornography which I clearly believe also fits: DEMAGOGUERY.

fucking assholes. myabe they shouldn't jack up the damn prices on these movies or movie tickets so we wouldn't have to download recorded ones!!

a felony?? somebody smack this guy.

gdZiemann: "Why don't we save a lot of time and simply make it a federal offense to make a movie?" .. :grin:

dmca started it.. we can finish it, folks.. all ya gotta do is take their advice and NOT use Riaa/mpaa products! .. BOYCOTT!
It is all political.. a voting movement to replace one-third of these bozos in a year.. and repeal this garbage. Can we do it? YES WE CAN!

BOYCOTT. EDUCATE. REGISTER. VOTE.
ARE YOU REGISTERED AND READY?