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3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:A8732
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law and the penal law, in relation to the unlawful downloading of intellectual property
Purpose or General Idea of Bill: To empower the Attorney General to prosecute people who engage in the unlawful downloading of intellectual property by means of a shared computer network.
Summary of specific provisions: Section 63 of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdivision 14. Subdivision 14 states that any person shall be prosecuted for a violation of unlawful downloading of intellectual property as set forth in section 156.40 of the penal law.
A person is guilty of unlawful downloading of intellectual property when such person with actual knowledge, or willfully, downloads intellectual property by means of a shared computer without first obtaining the writ- ten consent of the holder of the rights of the intellectual property or purchasing the right to download such material.
Unlawful downloading of intellectual property shall be punishable as follows:
For a first offence the defendant shall receive a warning in the form of an e-mail from the Attorney General via the defendant's broadband or interact service provider requiring such a defendant to cease such unlawful downloading.
For a second offence the defendant shall receive a warning in the form of a formal letter from the Attorney General requiring such a defendant to cease such unlawful downloading.
For a third offence the defendant shall be prohibited from maintaining an internet connection for a period of up to one year.
Justification; The invention and development of the Internet has created new areas which require legislation. One such area concerns the illegal downloading and copying of intellectual property. Every year the illegal downloading and file sharing of copyrighted material costs record compa- nies, film studios and musicians billions of dollars in potential reven- ues. According to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), $2.3 billion was lost to internet piracy in 2006.
This phenomenon is a serious issue with significant loss of earnings suffered by movie producers, actors, musicians etc. This bill takes steps to prevent this from happening on a wide scale and to ensure that the holders of intellectual property are adequately compensated for the copying of their material.
Recently France became the first country to implement legislation to protect against internet piracy. There is no prior legislation in the United States of America and this bill acts as a model for others to
copy to ensure that holders of intellectual property are protected across the board.
Prior legislative history: New bill
Financial implications: Unknown
Effective date: Shall come into effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.