Danes face up to 6 years jail for telling people how to illegally stream

[Syt]

http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2015/08/two-danes-face-up-to-six-years-in-jail-for-explaining-how-to-use-popcorn-time/

Two Danes face up to six years in jail for explaining how to use Popcorn Time

Another case of disproportionate punishment just because copyright is involved.

Danish police have arrested two men alleged to be the operators of sites related to the open-source program Popcorn Time, which adds a user-friendly front-end to a BitTorrent client to make the whole process of finding, downloading, and viewing video torrents extremely simple. The two domains, Popcorntime.dk and Popcorn-time.dk, have now been shut down, but copies on the Wayback Machine show that both were merely information sites, and neither offered material that infringed on copyrights, nor any version of the Popcorn Time software itself. Both sites warned users about potential copyright infringement issues.

The men are accused of "distributing knowledge and guides on how to obtain illegal content online," as TorrentFreak reports, and have apparently pleaded guilty. Moreover, distributing information is considered such a serious violation of Danish copyright law that "they could face punishment under section 299b of the penal code—offenses which carry a maximum prison term of six years." That seems an extraordinarily harsh and disproportionate upper limit for merely explaining how to use a program, just because copyright is involved in some way.

A similar case has already been heard in the UK, where it was found that sites offering downloads of the Popcorn Time software contributed to the copyright infringement that results from its use. In April of this year, the English High Court ordered a number of sites to be blocked for this reason. However, in that case the sites enabled the program to be downloaded directly, whereas in Denmark, the accused simply offered basic information about how the software worked and could be used, together with links to other sites where the program could be obtained.

The fact that such a tangential involvement in copyright-infringing activities could lead to criminal charges and years in prison shows how hard the film industry is trying to stamp out the use of Popcorn Time, which is difficult to attack using conventional lawsuits because of how it is produced and made available freely. That desire was also evident in a recent case in Oregon where, unusually, end-users of the program, rather than infringing sites, were targeted. Most users of Popcorn Time are probably unaware that as soon as they begin viewing a torrent using the software, they are also making it available to others. That makes it possible to find out IP addresses, as in the Oregon case, and can land them in legal trouble—something only mentioned in passing by the now-defunct Danish sites.

I'm guessing that Denmark has similar laws as Germany, where you can be held responsible for the outgoing links from your site (in this case to the Popcorn Time download site)?

[garbon]

So they facilitated crime?

[Martinus]

So they facilitated crime?

By that logic someone operating a shooting range facilitates murder.

Besides, "facilitating crime" is not a crime - aiding and abetting is. And for aiding and abetting to be punishable, one has to have clear intent and aiding and abetting must be linked to a specific crime or an attempt - not abstract.

[garbon]

There are many reasons that someone might want to learn how to fire a gun. There aren't many varying reasons on why someone would want to learn about an interface for downloading torrents.  They knew what was going to happen.

[Admiral Yi]

By that logic someone operating a shooting range facilitates murder.

The gift that keeps on giving.

[Martinus]

There are many reasons that someone might want to learn how to fire a gun. There aren't many varying reasons on why someone would want to learn about an interface for downloading torrents.  They knew what was going to happen.

Not all torrents are illegal, I presume.

[Tamas]

How much do you get in Denmark for armed robbery?

[Liep]

There are many reasons that someone might want to learn how to fire a gun. There aren't many varying reasons on why someone would want to learn about an interface for downloading torrents.  They knew what was going to happen.

Not all torrents are illegal, I presume.

On PopcornTime they are.

How much do you get in Denmark for armed robbery?

Up to 6 years and 10 years for very violent robbery.

[alfred russel]

How much do you get in Denmark for armed robbery?

Really depends on the amount of loot at the place you are robbing. 

[The Brain]

So they facilitated crime?

By that logic someone operating a shooting range facilitates murder.

No, you just have to remember to derange the customers before they leave.

[DontSayBanana]

By that logic someone operating a shooting range facilitates murder.

The gift that keeps on giving.

I briefly considered responding to this, and then I noticed which poster said it.

[DGuller]

By that logic someone operating a shooting range facilitates murder.

The gift that keeps on giving.

I briefly considered responding to this, and then I noticed which poster said it.

[Liep]

Danish movie industry wants to outlaw VPN connections now.

[DontSayBanana]

I used to think you guys were being too harsh on Mart's analogies... now, I know better.

[Tamas]

Then again, explaining how to do something that COULD result in copyright violations should not carry the same sentence as armed robbery.
I am not saying it shouldn't be punished, but some measure of proportionality should be kept.