U.S. Senate Proposes Making Copyrighted Video Streaming As Illegal As Video Downloading

Originally published on WebTVWire.com – a TV Technology blog.

Many people are still using the Internet to gain access to copyrighted content without paying for it, despite the various industries’ attempts to curb this behavior. Which inevitably means the laws against it will be tightened and toughened.

Downloading Vs. Streaming

There is currently a huge disparity in the U.S. between the penalties for streaming copyrighted video as opposed to downloading copyrighted video. The latter is regarded much more harshly, which is why streaming has become so popular in recent years.

But the U.S. Senate is seeking to close what it calls the loophole which determines that streaming copyrighted material via the Web is somehow less damaging and less illegal than downloading copyrighted material over the Internet.

The Senate Says ‘Aye’

According to The Hollywood Reporter, at the end of last week the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee backed moves to make illegal video streaming a felony in some cases. Those calling for a change in the law included the Obama administration, SAG, AFTRA, the MPAA, and the Directors Guild of America. The proposal will now go before the full Senate.

NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) President John Fithian said:

”To the technicians, designers, construction workers, and artists who support their families through their work in entertainment, there’s no difference between illegal downloading and illegal streaming – it’s all theft that hurts their work, their wages and their benefits.”

The big issue here is who exactly this change in the law would be targeting. Would it be the websites full of copyrighted material available to stream, other sites that link to these hosts, the people who upload the videos in the first place, or the people who do nothing more than press ‘Play’? Or all of the above?

Conclusions

There really isn’t any difference between downloading and streaming content these days, with high-speed Broadband meaning you can watch what you want when you want with no need to download it for the future. But until the confusion over who is liable is cleared up it’s difficult to get fully behind the bill.

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