Distribute pre-release movie, music, software, go to prison for three years [ip]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Text of legislation:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.00167:

A lively Slashdot thread:
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/04/20/1733215.shtml?tid=95&tid=17

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http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5677232.html

Prison terms on tap for 'prerelease' pirates
April 19, 2005, 4:33 PM PDT

File-swappers who distribute a single copy of a prerelease movie on the 
Internet can be imprisoned for up to three years, under a bill that's 
slated to become the most dramatic expansion of online piracy penalties 
in years.

The bill, approved by Congress on Tuesday, is written so broadly it 
could make a federal felon of anyone who has even one copy of a film, 
software program or music file in a shared folder and should have known 
the copyrighted work had not been commercially released. Stiff fines of 
up to $250,000 can also be levied. Penalties would apply regardless of 
whether any downloading took place.

[...remainder snipped...]
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