Senators Want To Put People In Jail For Embedding YouTube Videos!

Virtually all the video content in this and all blogs are 'embedded'. That's what you have to do to transfer video from one place to another. If this bill S789 becomes law any website that embeds a YouTube or other video that is determined to have infringed on copyright and more than 10 people view it on that website, the owner or others associated with the website could face up to five years in prison.  Many videos are removed from YouTube after copyright owners complain about infringement. This happens with thousands of news clips every year. Most people are familiar with the now common black box replacing a video that says the video has been removed for copyright reasons. If enacted, this law will go one step further and turn people who embed a copyrighted video into criminals. It will also set the stage to criminalize linking to copyrighted information — like corporate media news sources — and shut down the alternative media. It will also make people think twice about putting up all kinds of videos, from news reports to clips from documentaries and other educational material. It does not take a vivid imagination to realize the political implications of this legislation. If you embed a YouTube video that turns out to be infringing, and more than 10 people view it because of your link... you could be facing five years in jail. This is, of course, ridiculous, and suggests (yet again) politicians who are regulating a technology they simply do not understand. Should it really be a criminal act to embed a YouTube video, even if you don't know it was infringing...? This could create a massive chilling effect to the very useful service YouTube provides in letting people embed videos. FULL TEXT OF THE BILL
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