Hackers from the group Anonymous released a video on the Web this week in which the collective calls out Congress for a controversial new bill that could put Internet users in prison for streaming videos online.
Should S.978 be put on the books, streaming copyrighted material on the Web could land a person in jail for up to five years in addition to costing thousands of dollars in fines. The video released from Anonymous specifically challenges how the law would punish video game users for sharing their own game play on the Web, which the hackers say is a form of censorship and a denial of the free flow of information.
Anonymous also notes that even providing a link to copyrighted content could cause users to wind up with legal woes and says that the legislation is a “tyrannical scheme” courtesy of Congress. The bill was introduced to the Senate in May of this year but has not made it to the voting room floor yet. The official description for S. 978 reads that the bill is being brought before lawmakers “To amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes.”
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