I would rather have the disease
Added 2020-12-21 22:48:33 +0000 UTCSo, the COVID bill has passed, including: a Teddy Roosevelt Library, the US policy regarding the reincarnation of the Dali Lama, instructions for the Smithsonian to build identity museums for women and Latinos, the usual stuff needed to fight disease and undo the economic hardships experienced by Americans. But one thing is a new criminalization of streaming complete with prison time.
This has been soft soaped as only directed towards criminal profiteers, but so far everything indicates that the typically overbroad language means that this applies to anyone who makes money in any way from streaming (because anyone who makes money can arguably be considered to be a commercial streamer). We don't have all the details of the bill, because as usual, no one in Congress reads the fucking things they pass. It was brought in on wheels because it's too heavy to carry. If AOC and Amash both call this bullshit, odds are pretty good it's bullshit.
I wanted to drop this to you now because I need to delve deeper into the issue. I may need to get a lawyer to look it over and advise me; I've lived with the possibility of being sued, but actual time in our overcrowded, broken prison system that, ironically, is flooded with COVID, I can't live with that kind of stress. I would sincerely rather have COVID, at least I would know where I stand and have a fighting chance.
So in the meantime, some of the things I had planned are on hold while I sort this out. I may have to go to the photo-only format like I do for the "discussing" videos. And the disappointing thing is I just acquired the high def versions of TNG and Enterprise, I'd even remade the TNG title sequence in brand new 1080p format (see attached) and was getting ready to do the same with Enterprise and to make a new TOS one. My new thing for the year was going to be doing the series in 1080p format, but it might be pointless if it just winds up being still images.
Like I said, just wanted to give you a heads up that, for the jillionth time, I may have to yank the wheel hard before we smash into something else.
Comments
It does say that it only applies to stuff not covered by Title 17, and that means Fair Use is still in play. It's going to make a lot more stuff trigger copyright algorithms though, so that's going to hit everybody. But hey, there's good news. If we - and our country - survives the next month, there's going to be a lot of changes in our EB, and a lot more responsiveness from our Democratic congresspeople because they'll have some hope they can get things done. And, there's a lot of rights organizations out there who are cranked up to act too. I know it's just more work, but at least there's potential paths to reversing bad legislation like this.
Justme
2020-12-23 05:00:03 +0000 UTC
