Bill S.978, The Bill to End Video Games on the Internet?

I

Inigo Montoya

Hatman/Imakuni?/Not Not-TDL
Member
Hi there guys, today I'm here to tell you guys about a new bill started in Congress. This bill was started to prevent the streaming of copyrighted material over the internet. This means movies, TV shows, etc. This may seem like a good thing at first, but at the way it is worded at the moment, it says 'copyrighted material.' This means Video Games as well. Now, as you may know, a huge portion of Youtube, and the internet itself, is part of a Video Gaming society. Many people make videos about nearly all types of video games, whether it be Pokemon, Call of Duty, Halo, Zelda, Mario, and many, many more.

If this bill passes, every single video on Youtube about any sort of Video Game will have to be removed. This is obviously bad and will not be good for the Gaming community. Not only do LPs, Walkthroughs, reviews of the games, and basic gameplay videos promote and advertise the games, but they also are almost never the same. If you watch the same movie five times, it never changes. But if you play the same game five times, it is nearly impossible to recreate everything. That simple fact provides some defense against the bill. You need to interact with the video game and actually play it in order to fully experience it. With TV shows and movies, there isn't much else to do except watch it. I can fully understand where the people are coming from, wanting to prevent illegal movie streaming, but they really need to fix the wording or something.

BTW guys, its 3 in the morning, so I'm tired, I probably missed something obvious, other stuff, herp derp, I wanna sleep. If that all was way too confusing for you, just watch this.

Wording of the bill
 
Now unfortunately, I haven't read the bill, and I'm in a bit of a rush getting ready for a wedding, but here's my opinion: while I can see how the streaming of TV shows and movies should be illegal, there is a huge difference between streaming those forms of entertainment and video games. Streaming movies and TV shows allow you to get completely immersed in the intended experience -- you simply watch them, and for many people, they're done after watching.

Like you said, with video games, you don't in any way get the full experience by watching videos; there's an interactive component there which streaming videos don't allow you to replicate. In fact, watching streamed content online more often than not makes me want to go out and play the game. If this bill passes in its current form (including video games), I could very much see it having a negative impact on the gaming industry; I know I watch LPs and reviews online before deciding to buy a game, and I'm sure many others do as well.

Apologies if it doesn't make much sense of that it's pretty much exactly what you said; I'm just in a rush right now and wanted to throw in my two cents. :)
 
Will this bill affect the whole internet? I am a not very informed in American politics but can congress really shutdown the global community of video games?

Bwaaaa
 
bwaaaa said:
Will this bill affect the whole internet? I am a not very informed in American politics but can congress really shutdown the global community of video games?

Bwaaaa
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I believe the way the US system works is that if you are in the United States and are streaming the illegal content, then you will be arrested. If you are not a US citizen however, and are outside of the US, you will not be arrested by the US government. I think. Anyone is free to correct me.
 
This can't possibly pass. I'm serious. I am not worried about this because it is such a stupid idea. Video's of games being banned. Reviews of games banned. Even reccomendations? It makes me laugh how the US congress are actually considering this.
Do they realise how big the gaming market is and the merit of advertising over the internet can affect sales? I know 4 people alone who buy games solely on the basis of what IGN and Gamefaqs says.
Common sense says this never should work. Then again, no government in any country has common sense. This proves it.
 
This whole thing has become really annoying because people are just blowing it out of proportion.

Most video game developers are against this bill and the movement against this bill from the video game community is just massive as many of you can expect. But like the person above me, this bill is so stupid that I'm not even worried about it.
 
Trololololololol. Why would they go after videogames. People don't transfer files over video games. That would be horribly slow. I think Hollywood is just being a butthurt bully, since they can't stop torrent sites, the real culprit.
 
Why would they even propose this? Evidently, this is what congress is coming up with when there are better issues to be dealing with. To be honest, I'm not sure who they are even trying to help here. Fans like to post videos/articles on their favorite games, and developers benefit from the publicity. It seems they are making a problem out of nothing, (although I don't know all the facts either).

I know there was another video game law (here in California at least) that recently got declared unconstitutional. I believe it was an issue over violent video games and the kids that play them. But I suppose Pokemon isn't considered a 'violent' video game anyway.
 
No joke, why would Congress pass a stupid law that would cause anarchy, chaos, and Martial Law in the U.S. when fixing the Economy is more important right now? Unemployment is still high, people are losing jobs, and the Government is still having spending problems with 3 foreign wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Libya.

If the House, Senate, and Congress doesn't do anything to fix the Nation's Debt by August 2nd the U.S. could go into Default for the first time in history, nobody can't afford to let that happen and we can't afford to make the same mistakes that lead the U.S. into the Great Depression of the 1930's.
 
Card slinger J, the bill passing would NOT cause martial law, anarchy, or chaos. It would just make alot of people upset and probably be overturned in like a month or less even if it Ever did pass.

The bill it stupid, but it's not like OMG IT'S GONNA CAUSE A REVOLUTION like Card slinger j seems to think..seriously dude you are overboard on a lot of things, no offense to you
 
mlouden03 said:
Card slinger J, the bill passing would NOT cause martial law, anarchy, or chaos. It would just make alot of people upset and probably be overturned in like a month or less even if it Ever did pass.

The bill it stupid, but it's not like OMG IT'S GONNA CAUSE A REVOLUTION like Card slinger j seems to think..seriously dude you are overboard on a lot of things, no offense to you
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You don't need to bash him for that, he brings up a good point. As both of us have already stated, there are MANY more pressing issues that the government can be attending to then dumb laws on 'copyright material'. However, I would not go as far as using the words 'anarchy' and 'chaos'.

lol.
 
Does the law make streaming of copyrighted material over the internet illegal or just non-authorized streaming of copyrighted material over the internet?
 
Well have you read the contents of the bill? The OP already posted a link for it. What I also don't like about this bill is that not only is it unconstitutional but it also has the potential to kill Pokemon Wi-Fi Battles on YouTube especially Let's Plays as well.

Do I like the idea of being charged for a felony and spend time in jail just for posting a video on YouTube of me playing a video game? No of course not. Why do something like that which infringes on people's constitutional rights?

I thought America was the land of the free and the home of the brave not the land of Big Government stripping people's personal freedoms and soldiers dying in foreign wars we shouldn't be in anymore. I don't believe this Bill will pass through the Supreme Court. Heck with the California Bill regarding Video Games was voted Unconstitutional, there's still hope left for us.
 
What did I say about people blowing this out of proportion?

Here's an pretty good explanation of what the bill does.(credits go to Deck Night of smogon for this)

The bill is harmless.

It's basically an amendment to pre-existing language with no relevant implications. The vast majority of video game material on Youtube is going to fall under Fair Use anyway, and the text in no way alters the definition of Fair Use. The bill applies only to Criminal infringement.

Dude is just trying to scaremonger people.(he was referring to a person in a video that was linked in the thread this post was in) It's a 2 page bill ffs. I could reproduce it here. I think I will:
SECTION 1. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT.

(a) Amendments to Section 2319 of Title 18- Section 2319 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)--

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

‘(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if--

‘(A) the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and

‘(B)(i) the total retail value of the performances, or the total economic value of such public performances to the infringer or to the copyright owner, would exceed $2,500; or

‘(ii) the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000;’; and

(2) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

‘(2) the terms ‘reproduction’, ‘distribution’, and ‘public performance’ refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1), (3), (4), and (6), respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;’.

(b) Amendment to Section 506 of Title 17- Section 506(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’ the first place it appears; and

(2) in paragraph (3)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘unauthorized distribution’; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’.
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Again, most of this is covered under Fair Use. Youtube already shoots down copyright violators, all this does is change the fine structures. Moreover IIRC the very purchase of a game gives the purchaser a license to use the footage. Finally, both conditions (10 uploads and demonstable economic harm) must be met. Given the interactive nature of video games, all video game uploads are basically free advertisement.
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I'm hoping you guys saying the bill is so dumb we don't even have to worry about it are right. I know I buy most of my games because of reviews on IGN and I love watching playthroughs on YouTube to see what secrets I've missed or if I know of any that others don't. This bill needs to fail, and hard.

I haven't actually read through it, but do things like AMVs count towards this too?
 
lotusoftheleaf said:
I haven't actually read through it, but do things like AMVs count towards this too?
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Yes AMV's count as well, including MP3 Downloads, Anime Streaming of Japanese Subs, and Japanese Manga Scanlations. So yes this is a HUGE threat to those forms of entertainment. When people aren't making any money to help boost the economy I guess somebody's gotta step up.

Apparently Congress is upset about how the Music Industry is not making any profits nowadays due to people downloading music for free and Anime/Manga Dubs especially FUNimation and Viz Media are lagging behind in the American Anime/Manga Industry.

And about the issue of Streaming Movies at the Box Office, that's already illegal anyway. The only reason why people download movies before they're released in theatres is because they don't want to waste money on it If it's as terrible as say Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. That way they don't waste money on cruddy movies.
 
^ I'd find it interesting. I buy a game based on the aesthetics of the product. I'm studying the attraction of products in school and I don't mind taking a gamble with something that looks good but isn't and I don't know it. It just makes it so that you need to look in between the lines more and see if that's the 'copyrighted material' for you. And it kinda reverts back to asking your friends if the thing is good. It gives more discussion about games which I see is lacking recently, especially with me, it's hard to convince people about a good product when every other review site is saying it's horrible.

On the other hand, banning all copyrighted material on the internet without the holders permission is a bit of a stretch. By all means ban the sites like piratebay or mininova like JuliaCoolo said earlier. But because of the bad wording it's a little harsh. Well really harsh. Video sitest such as youtube should probably ban copyrighted material by users; like full TV shows/anime. But not simple video games or video's created by the user.
 
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