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posted by martyb on Tuesday April 07 2020, @08:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the return-of-usenet-rar-files dept.

With day 1 digital distribution of films becoming more prevalent, and movie theater chains going out of business, Hollywood and the MPAA are going to do everything they possibly can to kill or cobble illicit streaming. This could include increasing potential criminal penalties for individuals who operate "streaming piracy" services:

Movie Company Boss Urges US Senators to Make Streaming Piracy a Felony

In the United States, criminal copyright infringers can be sentenced to five years in prison. However, this is not the case for streaming piracy, which is seen as a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum jail sentence of one year. Millennium Films boss Jonathan Yunger is callling on senators to change this, so the Department of Justice can effectively shut down and prosecute streaming piracy operations.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property is actively looking for options through which the US can better address online piracy. During a hearing last month, various experts voiced their opinions. They specifically addressed measures taken by other countries and whether these could work in the US, or not. Pirate site blocking and upload filtering emerged as the main topics during this hearing. While pros and cons were discussed, movie industry insiders including Millennium Media co-president Jonathan Yunger framed these measures as attainable and effective.

After the hearing, senators asked various follow-up questions on paper. Last week we reported how former MEP Julia Reda answered these by stressing the importance of affordable legal options. Yunger, however, takes another approach.

In his answers, which were published before the weekend, he reiterates the power of website blocking. In addition, Yunger also brings a second, previously unmentioned issue to the forefront: criminal penalties for streaming piracy. "The second thing that we could easily do in the United States is close the legal loophole that currently allows streaming – which accounts for the vast majority of piracy today – to be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony," Yunger writes.

See also: Movie & TV Giants Sue 'Pirate' Nitro IPTV For 'Massive' Copyright Infringement


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  • (Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Thursday April 09 2020, @08:45AM (1 child)

    by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 09 2020, @08:45AM (#980525)

    This is the guy... [variety.com] -- seems to be bright young chap. He's been working at Millenium films for several years.

    I don't pirate, but I find his statements misguided -- I ain't a fan of felonizing people for pirating streaming in the US, not with all the implications a felony has there (voting rights, work problems, etc).

    If you too don't like his comments, may I suggest boycotting/avoiding his company's films for a few months? During lockdown, with everyone viewing streaming services, this should send some sort of market signal back.

    List of Millenium films on IMDB [imdb.com]
    _____________________________________________________________
    Angel Has Fallen (2019) R | 121 min | Action, Thriller. ...
    Rambo: Last Blood (2019) R | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller. ...
    Hellboy (2019) R | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy. ...
    London Has Fallen (2016) ...
    Hunter Killer (2018) ...
    The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) ...
    Olympus Has Fallen (2013) ...
    Conan the Barbarian (2011) ...

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday April 09 2020, @07:19PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday April 09 2020, @07:19PM (#980646) Journal

    If you too don't like his comments, may I suggest boycotting/avoiding his company's films for a few months? During lockdown, with everyone viewing streaming services, this should send some sort of market signal back.

    That is a fantasy. Not even 0.1% of people will ever know who this guy is, so there won't be any sort of market signal.

    Luckily, nobody will watch Hellboy (2019) anyway.

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