To Congress,
I believe that illegally pirating movies on the internet and redistributing it for money is definitely a crime which deserves to be fined and punished. I am in full support of the government in wanting to stop illegal hackers and to correct them. I myself would one day like to go into the film industry and make movies and not have to worry about someone pirating my movies for free and then selling them without a license.
However with the newest bill that has come up that is referred to as Bill s.978 and that is being put through congress for discussion I believe it crosses the line between trying to stop crime and just plain absurdity. Your bill states that anyone who posts a video with any sort of copyright material is considered a felony and can go to jail for up to five years. THAT’S RIDICULOUS! As someone who regularly shoots for my youtube channel I can tell you first hands it is harder then you think to take out every single copyrighted material out of a video you decide to post on the internet or youtube especially since most people don’t have studios they can build when there just making videos for fun. Me along with other youtubers out there want to enjoy the Internet and not have to worry about if a copyrighted song is in the background or if we actually mention a movie.
The Internet and links are used commonly to share large files of information like home videos to a grandparent. If this bill were to pass it would make it almost impossible just to do something as harmless as this. If someone’s mom were to send an innocent video of her five year old daughter singing karaoke of a famous singer according to this bill you could charge this mom as a felon and not only fine her but sentence her to jail. That’s just not right by any means. Many people on the Internet have made legitimate businesses out of putting up game play of games and reviews to help people choose what games they should get and even in some ways help to indirectly spread the news about video games without having to wait for ads on tv. If this bill were to pass hundreds of people would go out of work and it would be much harder for people to get news about video games and movies since this bill will make it so people cant post harmless trailers and video game reviews. It will bring us back to the days of when the only way to learn about new games or movies is to hope to see it on tv. It’s outrageous.
This bill is outrageous and will not just stop at punishing people who illegally sell movies on the internet but, it will also hurt all those who are just trying to have fun on the internet or post up helpful reviews or trailers. It will even cost hundreds of people there jobs. Please stop this absurd bill and make sure it never becomes law before it is to late. I ask you to do your part and to see what this bill will do to practically everyone who has a computer and to vote no on it.
Sincerely,
Chad Masuda
Hey Chad,
ReplyDeleteGreat Essay - you touch upon a very controversial subject now: Bill S.978. As a Youtuber and lover of rock music, I see every part of your essay that is justified, in which this bill will target and limit freedom in media usage. Your Pros for why the bill should be stopped are very evident - you have good reasons and examples to reason the reader into opposing the same thing. There are hardly any cons, which would be barely few in this case - Great job so far!
- Z
Hi Chad,
ReplyDeleteYour voice and commitment definitely come through in this letter :)
Here are my recommendations. First, leave out words like outrageous and ridiculous. The purpose of the assignment and the skill being assessed is reasoning. Words like "outrageous" and "ridiculous" and more emotional than logical and actually detract from the effect of your letter.
My next recommendation has to do with content. Be very sure that you understand Fair Use because I don't think that new legislation is intended to do away with that policy. Perhaps if you show me your research/data, it would be easier to see how this bill relates to earlier policy on copyright infringement.
mrs s