New York (CNN Business) Tucked away in the more than 5,000-page long Covid-19 stimulus bill is a new law that severely punishes streamers that pirate large amounts of copyrighted content.
You probably have nothing to worry about: The "Protecting Lawful Streaming Act," which was introduced earlier this month by Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, doesn't target casual internet users.
The law specifies that it doesn't apply to people who use illegal streaming services or "individuals who access pirated streams or unwittingly stream unauthorized copies of copyrighted works.".
Rather, it's focused on "commercial, for-profit streaming piracy services" that make money from illegally streaming copyrighted material.
Tillis said that this practice costs the US economy nearly $30 billion yearly.
"This commonsense legislation was drafted with the input of creators, user groups, and technology companies and is narrowly targeted so that only criminal organizations are punished and that no individual streamer has to worry about the fear of prosecution," he wrote in a statement. »
