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SHARE YR NETFLIX ACCOUNT, GO TO JAIL
ITEM: The state of Tennessee makes it a crime to use a friend's login to listen to songs or watch movies from services like Netflix or Rhapsody – even if you have their permission.
On the one hand, I’m fascinated by the argument that using someone else’s Netflix account is similar to sharing cable TV with the neighbors (which is of course not only illegal, but also likely a violation of yr ToS). From a cable-TV theft POV, using someone else’s Netflix account (outside of your home, at least) is a little harder to justify.
On the other hand, the law doesn’t distinguish between hackers who sell passwords in bulk and someone using their mom’s Netflix account, and knowing the MPAA and RIAA, they’re not really going to care. As far as they’re concerned, sharing a Rhapsody account is no different from selling pirated copies of Ke$ha CDs out of the back of yr car (or, for that matter, breaking into EMI’s bank account and stealing all their money).
Typical.
For me, the best way to evaluate laws like this is to ask the following question: does the remedy solve the problem?
If the problem is piracy and financial losses for the music and film industry, the answer is “no”. Actual criminals who steal and sell passwords are already breaking the law, so making more laws isn’t much of a deterrent. And people who can’t or won’t pay for media services generally will not become paying customers just because you outlaw ways to get it for free. You might get less people to use someone else’s account, but I seriously doubt you’ll get them to pay for their own. And a lot of people will keep sharing accounts anyway.
Conclusion: it’s a law that creates new ways to put people in jail without remedying the problem it proposes to fix.
Typical.
Access denied,
This is dF
The bill expands an existing law used to prosecute people who steal cable television or leave restaurants without paying for their meals. It adds "entertainment subscription service" to the list of services protected by the law. […]
On the one hand, I’m fascinated by the argument that using someone else’s Netflix account is similar to sharing cable TV with the neighbors (which is of course not only illegal, but also likely a violation of yr ToS). From a cable-TV theft POV, using someone else’s Netflix account (outside of your home, at least) is a little harder to justify.
On the other hand, the law doesn’t distinguish between hackers who sell passwords in bulk and someone using their mom’s Netflix account, and knowing the MPAA and RIAA, they’re not really going to care. As far as they’re concerned, sharing a Rhapsody account is no different from selling pirated copies of Ke$ha CDs out of the back of yr car (or, for that matter, breaking into EMI’s bank account and stealing all their money).
Typical.
For me, the best way to evaluate laws like this is to ask the following question: does the remedy solve the problem?
If the problem is piracy and financial losses for the music and film industry, the answer is “no”. Actual criminals who steal and sell passwords are already breaking the law, so making more laws isn’t much of a deterrent. And people who can’t or won’t pay for media services generally will not become paying customers just because you outlaw ways to get it for free. You might get less people to use someone else’s account, but I seriously doubt you’ll get them to pay for their own. And a lot of people will keep sharing accounts anyway.
Conclusion: it’s a law that creates new ways to put people in jail without remedying the problem it proposes to fix.
Typical.
Access denied,
This is dF