Just got this email from demand progress:
Ever sent someone a link to a copyrighted YouTube video? Of course: Everybody has. And now the US Government seems to think that means it can put us in prison.
Bryan McCarthy ran a website, channelsurfing.net, that linked to various websites where you could watch online streams of TV shows and sports networks. A couple months ago, the government seized his domain name and just today they arrested him for criminal copyright infringement.
Tell the government that this is crazy: There's nothing wrong or illegal about sharing a link.
The government doesn't even allege he made a copy of anything! Just that his site linked to various sites with copyrighted material. Under that sort of thinking, everyone who's sent around a link to a copyrighted YouTube video is a criminal.
This is another shocking overreach by the department of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- a steamship-era department that's proving once again it doesn't understand the Internet.
We need to push back -- and fast -- before they try to lock up all Americans. Click here to tell ICE to drop its charges.
Thanks for taking a stand.
-- The Demand Progress team
P.S. Will you help us convince ICE to back down by forwarding this to your friends?







