How many laws do you need for happiness?

Over the past 30 years, 15 "anti-piracy" laws have been passed in the United States, which either extended the copyright term or tightened the punishment for "pirates", or covered new ways of illegal copying of content. As recent attempts to promote SOPA / PIPA show, the requirements of holders are far from satisfying, and they will continue.

1. 1982. Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act : increasing the maximum criminal liability for illegal copying of records, tapes and films from $ 25,000 and 2 years in prison to $ 250,000 and 5 years in prison. It also legalizes the possibility that a citizen convicted for the first time may receive a maximum term.
2. 1984. Record Rental Amendment of 1984 : music rental is outlawed (therefore, there are no music services in America that are similar to video rental).
3. 1990. Copyright Remedy Clarification Act : right holders were given the opportunity to sue individual states (previously, they could declare sovereign immunity).
4. 1990. Computer Software Rental Amendments Act : Outlawed rental software.
5. 1992. Audio Home Recording Act : Licensing deductions are introduced for each device sold that records digital audio (digital voice recorders, etc.).
6. 1994. Uruguay Round Agreements Act : recordings of public concerts are not only derived from the public domain and they are subject to copyright, but criminal liability has been imposed for filming and recording concerts (audio or video).
7. 1995. The Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act : a new right to “digital performance” was introduced in the list of copyright and related rights owned by the copyright holder.
8. 1996. Anticounterfeiting Consumer Protection Act of 1996 : criminal liability for the production and sale of counterfeit copyright objects, software, documentation and packaging, as well as films and musical works. The government also received the right to confiscate property related to criminal activity (the forerunner of domain confiscation).
9. 1997. No Electronic Theft (NET) Act : lowering the bar for qualifying a criminal offense (for example, removed the condition for a criminal gain by a criminal)
10. 1998. Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act : an increase in the duration of a copyright by 20 years. It used to be 50 years since the death of the author or 75 years for corporate property, it was 70 and 95 years, respectively. For works created earlier in 1978, the term is set to 95 years.
11. 1998. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) : a well-known law that describes numerous anti-piracy mechanisms for digital materials, including introducing out-of-court content removal procedures after notifying the site owner.
12. 1999. Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 : a significant increase in the amount of damages for copyright infringement.
13. 2004. Intellectual Property Protection and Courts Amendments Act : fines (administrative and criminal) for forging labels, documentation and packaging (separately from content) were set, the bar for qualifying a crime as intentional was lowered.
14. 2005. Family Entertainment and Copyright Act : criminal liability for video recording of movies in cinemas, also gives authority to cinema staff to detain people who are suspected of having made videotapes. Criminal responsibility for publishing work online before the official release.
15. 2008. Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act : Tightening administrative liability for violations. The extension of the powers of law enforcement agencies to confiscate property (according to this law, domains of site owners suspected of copyright infringement are confiscated now). Creating a separate position in the White House to improve the fight against piracy.

Now we are told that the Internet is a wild, lawless territory. The right holders are again squeezing panic and convince everyone that the adoption of new legislation is “absolutely necessary” - they said the same thing every time, promoting new and new expansion of the package of anti-piracy laws.