Atrocious Congress

U.S. House overwhelmingly passes Omnibus Spending Bill which appears almost as an afterthought to include some – but little Covid relief.

‘Congress only has $600 for COVID relief but they managed to cram in controversial changes to copyright that threaten Internet users with huge fines’.

The punitive and dangerous provisions loaded (without public input) into the 5,593-page bill (pdf), threaten ordinary Internet users with up to $30,000 in fines for “engaging in everyday activities like sharing memes, downloading [and re-uploading] images online…” and more, such as online streaming.

Evan Greer of the digital rights group Fight for the Future said Monday that the CASE Act, Felony Streaming Act and Trademark Modernization Act “are in fact included in the must-pass omnibus spending bill.”

Greer released this statement:

This is atrocious. We’re facing a massive eviction crisis and millions are unemployed due to the pandemic, but Congressional leaders could only muster $600 stimulus checks for COVID relief, but managed to cram in handouts for content companies like Disney? The CASE Act is a terribly written law that will threaten ordinary Internet users with huge fines for everyday online activity. It’s absurd that lawmakers included these provisions in a must-pass spending bill.

We’ve seen time and time again that changes to copyright law have profound implications for online freedom of expression and human rights. These types of decisions should never be made in closed-door negotiations between politicians and industry or rushed through as part of some must-pass spending package. Artists and musicians especially are suffering immensely during the pandemic. Congress should be working quickly to provide immediate relief, not cramming controversial, poison-pill legislation into budget bills to appease special interests. We call on House and Senate leadership to remove the copyright provisions from the Continuing Resolution and move them through regular order so we can have transparent and open debate about the right balance. DMCA abuse and frivolous copyright takedowns are already a huge problem for the next generation of artists and creators, streamers, gamers, and activists. Lawmakers should be working to address these issues and create a fair system that protects human rights and ensures artists are fairly compensated instead of ramming through poorly crafted legislation that could punish ordinary Internet users for engaging in everyday activities like sharing memes and downloading images online.

Mike Masnick at TechDirt reports on the ‘atrocious’ bill:

“The CASE Act will supercharge copyright trolling exactly at a time when we need to fix the law to have less trolling. And the felony streaming bill (which was only just revealed last week with no debate or discussion) includes provisions that are so confusing and vague no one is sure if it makes sites like Twitch into felons”.

Way to go, Congress. Ya never miss an opportunity to please your benefactors and screw over your constituents. Oh yeah, enjoy your taxpayer-paid-for Christmas dinner. VILE!