Germany Accepts Strict Piracy Law

[BJ_M]

"The TimesOnline is reporting that Germany has accepted a new piracy law, currently the toughest in Europe, which comes into effect on January 1, 2007. From the article: 'Germans risk two years in prison if they illegally download films and music for private use under a new law agreed yesterday. Anybody who downloads films for commercial use could be jailed for up to five years.' Many politicians defended the new law, amongst them Günther Krings, the Christian Democrat legal affairs spokesman, who claimed: 'There should be no legal distinction between stealing chewing gum from a shop and performing an illegal download.'"

[lordsmurf]

So stealing chewing gum gets you a two-year prison sentence?

[BJ_M]

i guess so -- though in Singapore, spitting it out on the sidewalk is also a crime

[lordsmurf]

I guess it's not far off then, we'll be chopping off people's hands again, so they cannot use a mouse. Maybe gouge out their eyes or blow out their eardrums so they will not be tempted to view or listen to illegal downloads.

Must protect corporate profits at all costs. Eye for an eye?

[painkiller]

(please, no, I've only got one left!)

This is absurd.

How are they going to distinguish the perpetrator - or just assume the owner/renter of the residence owns the computer, and is therefore at fault (regardless of whoever else lives there)?

Doesn't any legislator have brains anymore?
Just how much is the entertainment industry paying these people/legislators anyway?

[NiteLite]

i guess so -- though in Singapore, spitting it out on the sidewalk is also a crime

Indeed. I remember the kid getting his @$$ beat on TV.
I wish they had that law in the usa.

Also wanted to agree with "painkiller" about the payoff. I bet it was big!


Orwell is smiling

[adam]

Nitelite that kid got caned in Singapore for vandalizing cars.

So stealing chewing gum gets you a two-year prison sentence?

I thought this was a very good point, expecting the physical theft to actually be punished less than this pirating...but boy was I wrong. I checked and basic theft can be punishable by up to 5 years. It can be up to 10 years if certain things occur during the theft, many of which really don't seem all that bad (ex: exploint accident or someone's helplessness, break into anything including sealed container.)

The fact of the matter is that Germany is just really frickin' tough on crime.

[bmiller]

Maximun sentences on the books do not necessarily mean maximun sentences are dished out.Here in Canada our liberal dogooder judicial system rarely hands out the maximum for anything.The federal government does not want to pay incarceration costs.Sentence with the minimum,parole early,less cost.

[hech54]

Nitelite that kid got caned in Singapore for vandalizing cars.

So stealing chewing gum gets you a two-year prison sentence?

I thought this was a very good point, expecting the physical theft to actually be punished less than this pirating...but boy was I wrong. I checked and basic theft can be punishable by up to 5 years. It can be up to 10 years if certain things occur during the theft, many of which really don't seem all that bad (ex: exploint accident or someone's helplessness, break into anything including sealed container.)

The fact of the matter is that Germany is just really frickin' tough on crime.

I saw a cop on my street yesterday...I was shocked.
They are tough on crime here but from what(little) I've seen...
the cops here are not "Dirty Harry". The treatment by the cops is
limited by the crime. A drunk?...he sleeps it off in the jail and is sent home
with a piece of paper the next morning. A theif?...he spends several days in
jail and is sent home with a piece of paper to return.
And you'd better return. They WILL find you. They WILL be out looking for
you if you do not return for the judicial procedings. It's not like "The next time he slips up(gets arrested) we will have a warrant so we will just catch him then"...NOPE...someone is looking for you...trust me.
Traffic stops are basically limited to the Autobahns...and even there...the police
motto is to NOT make their presence too obvious on the Autobahns....it only
distracts drivers from their main goal...and that is concentrating on driving
correctly at over 120MPH.
If you get pulled over on the Autobahn....you were being a complete ******* or almost
got someone else killed...or there is a body hanging out of your trunk..
If you want to see alot of cops in one place in Germany...go to a football(soccer) game.
From the train station to the stadium you will not be out of sight of at least 10 cops.
The cops here are also very friendly to normal everyday goof-offs. The cops aren't there
to harrass anyone...just to let you know they are there...in mass quantity...

[NiteLite]

Nitelite that kid got caned in Singapore for vandalizing cars.

You're correct. I apologize for the misinformation. I was thinking he threw down some gum wrapper. It's true, memory is the first to go.
And by stating "I wish they had that law here", I was refering to anyone spitting gum on the ground.
Thanks, Adam.
NL

[splash1955]

I would like to say that reading the text in German what it says is: "make them available for download."

This is the only way the term "download" is used throughout in my reading. Cleary this means uploaders and/or hosts, and not pure downloaders, which are extremely active on ftp, nntp and as oneway/leechers on p2p in Europe.

The source of the emphasis of the term "downloaders" is the "Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzunge" which is the German MPAA. Since the US RIAA and MPAA are quite consistantly and falsely citing suits against downloaders, when this has never occured, the same strategy mixing the terms seems to be in play here. A lot press outlets in the US have stated downloaders have been sued, dowloaders targeted, etc, yet it is not the case either.

As with counterfiet goods and stolen property, the probative burden against recievers, purchasers etc has always been extremely high, and intent and foreknowledge key tests.

It is a certainty that every day employees and members of the RIAA, MPAA and GVU download copyright material without permission or right via smtp, http, etc. Every human with an internet connection does.

there are other errors in the various articles such as the claim the law takes effect in January 07 .It looks as though this date refers to when it will come to parliament for a vote (and certainly amendments) as it currently stands as a proposal.

I would be very careful aboutwhat one reads in the press given the track record. In Germany the recording industry announced with great fanfare they had the ip's of 45,000 ftp users last year. none were prosecuted or bothered. the only result was the decision by german ISP to dump all IP data and successfully fight attmepts to force retention. Indeed Germany now has some of the strongest ip privacy in the world.

I do not celebrate, advocate or engage in piracy. but most stories about legal issues and enforcement surrounding these issues as they relate to individuals not engaging in sales of material they do not own are greatly exaggerated and often wholey mischaracterized by the lobbying groups and gullable persons in the press.