S.978 Bill Could Make Streaming Media Illegal

[LeGuy]

Now everybody hold on just a second here.

This bill is seriously flawed, and I don't think there's any way it's going to pass, so I wouldn't be worried. But, a couple of things:

1.) Let's not all get riled up about the government - at least, for this bill, specifically. It sounds to me like this is just something that's been presented by lobbyists for consideration. It's not like 75% of our Congressional representatives have made statements expressing they're in favor of the bill, or anything like that. Considering just how essentially flawed the bill itself is in the first place, once again, I don't think there's anything to be worried about.

2.) For the record, though, just regarding pirating/streaming specifically copyrighted music, TV shows, and movies - that's not a freedom that we have. I mean, it's illegal. Regardless of whether or not you do it or not, don't try to make any claims saying you have an unalienable right to confiscate entertainment from the hands of its rightful distributors. I'm not trying to make any sort of point concerning morality here, just pointing out that if you're concerned about government taking away your freedoms, this is one of the last things you should be worried about - since, one, it's just what you do on the internet when you're bored, not your livelihood, and, two, it's not a freedom you have in the first place. I'm cool with pirating, and I have nothing to say about it ethically, but don't label it as a right.

[Yankyal]

I don't think there's a way for them to enforce it. Far too many people would ignore this law or would find ways around it. They aren't going to arrest the millions who already do this on youtube, it's just not worth it.

[Chilly8]

Actually, you are probably wrong Darkblade. They would not be shutdown. The more likely route would be that any IP Address residing in the USA

That will make the proxy business boom, as people will sign onto VPN services outside the USA to access the content. The bill, in its current form, does not make using VPNs to circumvent country blocking illegal.

[Chilly8]

Yeah I was partly wrong, but keep in mind people find ways around everything on the internet now days. People would find a way to bypass whatever 'filter' they put on videos, and if they tried to stop that, it would just happen again in some other form. I'm sure it wouldn't be this simple, but if it was IP blocks, they could just change IPs. Sounds pretty simple so I'm sure if they did something like that it would be enforced so it wouldn't be that easy, but it would still happen some way or another.

There is no law against in the US against using VPNs to bypass country filters, and neither S968 (Protect IP) or S978 (Commercial Felony Streaming Act) have any prohibitions on using VPNs in such a manner.