"For purposes of section 2319(b) of title 18, the placing of a copyrighted work, without the authorization of the copyright owner, on a computer network accessible to members of the public who are able to copy the work through such assess shall be considered to be distribution, during a 180-day period, of at least 10 copies of that work with a retail value more than $2500."
By US standards, that is a good law. It is totally incomprehensible, can mean 50 different things depending on how you read it, and will be argued over and over in courts for years to come.
I don't agree with it, however.
But, from what I understand, it would NOT be a felony to purchase a CD, make 10,000 copies of it, and pass them out in Grand Central Station. That would be just a *normal* copyright violation. But if I take the same CD, DD it into a ISO, and place it on the Internet, then that is a felony. However, perhaps if I place my entire CD collection on my work network that is okay, because it is not accessible by members of the public - but could be considered *normal copyright violation*.
This is a worthless law.
And yes, copyright violation is a crime. But Tanner had a good point: there are plenty of non-violent offenders in California who are doing life for things that aren't even felonies in states of than California so why tag felonies on the records of these offenders? Every job application you would ever fill out from that point forward in your life you'd have to check 'convicted felon' in that little box. And forget about getting a passport, obtaining one would be nearly impossible. Likewise for owning a gun, if that's your thing.
In this case the punishment truly does not fit the crime.
Yuk. Write your congressman to throw this fish back.
Greg
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