10 years in prison for illegal streaming? It’s in the Covid-19 account

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You probably don’t need to worry about anything: the “Protecting Lawful Streaming Act,” introduced earlier this month by Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, does not target casual Internet users. The law states that it does not apply to people who use illegal streaming services or “persons who access illegal streams or unknowingly stream unauthorized copies of copyrighted works”.

Rather, it targets “commercial, profitable streaming piracy services” that make money by illegally streaming copyrighted material.

Tillis said this practice costs the U.S. economy nearly $ 30 billion annually.

“This common sense legislation has been drafted with input from creators, user groups and technology companies and is closely targeted so that only criminal organizations are punished and no individual streamer has to worry about fear of prosecution,” he wrote in a statement.

If an offender is prosecuted, he can face up to 10 years in prison for multiple offenses and face a fine.

The bipartisan bill is backed by five Democratic senators and four Republicans. It is also supported by two groups, including Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group, who called the bill “narrowly tailored” so it doesn’t affect regular Internet users.

“We appreciate Senator Tillis’s decision to release the text of his proposal, and his leadership in bringing in consumer groups, listening to our concerns and working to avoid risks to end users and legitimate streamers and streaming platforms,” said Meredith Rose said Public Knowledge’s senior policy advisor in a statement.

In a separate response, the National Association of Broadcasters said it “strongly supports” the law.

Last year, the Department of Justice indicted two Las Vegas computer programmers for illegal piracy of thousands of hours of television shows from Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu and stream them on websites called iStreamItAll and Jetflicks. One man admitted to making more than $ 1 million from his piracy operations.

The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act could become law this week, when President Donald Trump is expected to sign the stimulus bill.

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