Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 Thanks to: MichaelP
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Wednesday December 17 1:24 PM EST Clinton Signs Internet Copyright Legislation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton signed into law on Tuesday a controversial bill imposing criminal penalties on copyright violators who do not profit from their actions, the White House executive clerk's office said Wednesday. The No Electronic Theft Act, passed by Congress last month, was strongly backed by the software and entertainment industries but opposed by science and academic groups. Under the law, a person who "willfully" infringes on copyrighted material worth at least $1,000 could be subject to criminal prosecution even if he does not profit thereby. Under current law, copyright violators cannot be charged with criminal misconduct unless they profit from the violations. Software and entertainment groups, including the Business Software Alliance, the Motion Picture Association and the Association of American Publishers, said the change was essential to protect software, music recordings and other creative products easily pirated over the Internet. They cited a 1994 court case dismissing criminal copyright charges against an Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who posted on the Internet for free downloading copies of popular software programs. But last month a leading group of scientists, the Association for Computing, wrote to Clinton asking him to veto the bill because it might inadvertently criminalize many scientific publications available over the Internet, and might limit the "fair use" doctrine. The new law includes a sliding scale of penalties depending on the severity of the copyright infringement. For making one or more copies with a total retail value of at least $1,000 but less than $2,500, the violator could be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to $100,000. For copies with a retail value of $2,500 or more, the violator could imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to $250,000. A second offense could lead to a prison term of up to six years. ===================================================================== For the purposes of this kind of posting, the relevant language of the bill just signed seems to be that the act of receiving a copyrighted work is designated a "financial gain" ( perhaps as in when you open-up the New York Times news pages) and that
==================================== SEC. 2. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHTS.
(a) DEFINITION OF FINANCIAL GAIN- Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the undesignated paragraph relating to the term `display', the following new paragraph:
`The term `financial gain' includes receipt, or expectation of receipt, of anything of value, including the receipt of other copyrighted works.'.
ALSO CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT- Any person who infringes a copyright willfully either--
`(1) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or
`(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000,
shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code. =========================================================
so that it seems they want to stop the sending, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies of 1 or more copyrighted works of value more than $1,000.
More jobs for the lawyers, especially if "fair use" is wiped out.
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
------------------------- NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. -------------------------
Peace!
Rob, Sector Air Raid Warden at Rob's Place http://www.vom.com/rc/home.htm A SITE DEDICATED TO SPIRIT, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM /RENEGADE/ newsletter: http://fornits.com/renegade/ Robert Cherwink <rc@vom.com> Usenet: alt.thebird
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