Congress erased every Filipino's right to bring home music, movies and books from abroad

[digitalsuperman]

Congress erased every Filipino's right to bring home music, movies and books from abroad

Everyday, many Filipinos arrive in Manila, bringing back with them books as well as DVDs and CDs of music and movies they bought in other countries for their personal use.

They can do this without fear of being questioned because it’s a right specifically granted “to persons or families arriving from foreign countries” under Section 190 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines or Republic Act 8293.

What these Filipinos probably do not know is Congress has just passed a law erasing this right. The law — a consolidated measure amending RA 8293, was sent to Malacañang Palace on January 29, 2013 and just needs the signature of President Benigno Aquino III to become effective.

That’s not all.

Under this new law, once you modify a device (for instance “jailbreaking” an Apple product such as an iPhone or iPad) in order to remove restrictions on what and how apps and content can be stored and used — you can be held criminally liable for ”copyright infringement.” The amended version introduces for the first time in our criminal law the concept of “digital rights management” (DRM) – which also covers how we use digital devices on the Internet and which behaviors are considered criminal.

Penalties for “jailbreaking” and other forms of copyright infringement range from three years in jail and at least P150,000 for the first offense, and up to nine years in jail and P1.5 million pesos for the third and subsequent offenses.

There’s more.

If you happen to be leasing out space — for instance, if you’re a mall or building owner — to someone who infringes copyright, you could be held liable.

And that’s not all.

If someone else had downloaded music from the Internet and shared the file with you, and you then uploaded it onto your technological device and listened to it, you could also be held liable if the download site was one that the US recording and movie companies have been trying to shut down.

Downloading music was the sixth most popular reason for surfing cited by 683 Internet users ages 10 to 17 in a 2009 study conducted by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communications for UNICEF.

Authorities say that downloading music was made illegal as far back as the year 2000, when then President Joseph Estrada signed the E-Commerce Act into law. They point to Section 33 of the E-Commerce Act which punishes with fines and jail “piracy or the unauthorized…downloading” of, among others, “copyrighted works including legally protected sound recordings or phonograms…through the use of telecommunication networks…in a manner that infringes intellectual property rights.”

They neglect to point out, though, that the last part in Section 33 contains a qualifying clause which states that downloading becomes illegal only when done “in a manner that infringes intellectual property rights.”

Intellectual property rights are spelled out in RA 8293 – the Intellectual Property Code.


from twitter:

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
NOW ON ANC: Ricardo Blancaflor, Dir. Gen. IPO on amendments on IP Code

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: Everyone, calm down. The blog entry does not reflect the real nature of the amendments. The changes are actually pro-Filipino

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: We are not running after ordinary consumers. We are giving them protection. We are running after pirates, cybercriminals

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: Respect the rights of artists, musicians, composers. Saying this is anti-Filipino is wrong.

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor on claims you can't bring in CDs, DVDs, books from abroad: That fear is out of place.

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: The claim is false, you can bring in as many CDs and DVDs and books as long as you don't infringe on the rights of creators

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: This is a fear of something that does not really exist.

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: When it comes to copyright violations, you can still be apprehended even if no one complains.

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
CORRECTION Blancaflor: Copyright is still private right in PH. If nobody's complaining (it can't be offense). Infringement has to be proven

ABS-CBN News Channel ‏@ANCALERTS
Blancaflor: Jailbreaking is not a crime. You have to have a formal complaint from the person being infringed and finding of infringement.

[Hammer_and_Sickle]

sus, nag pa ila ra jud na itoy ta sa mga kano, hahahaha

[ChaosOrb]

Jailbreak is legal...go ask Apple!

[psyche54]

Kaning Pilipinas napuno ug balaod!

This might be OFF-TOPIC, pero wa man gani sila kadakop anang JOAVAN sa talisay nga lantaran ang pagkahasol sa communidad..

Naa na pud laing balaod nga ipatuman... Basic laws, di man gani ka-implement, samot na ni...

[noy.juan]

ok ra... im android user man..

[rockrhyan1982]

another impossible solution of the govt. to raised money from the people..naaah sa america,daghan gihapon mag DL ug torrent sites,but pila ra ang nadakpan.sa pinas pa!goodluck!

[dawlim]

sige lang balaod para maka kwarta ang mga kurakot

[mvp_hunter]

Mao dyud. Matang aron pud igngun ning mga congress dah nga gatrabaho sila. Mga inutil dyud mga tawhana. Pataka lang ug pasa ug balaod. Labon kanang amendment sa Anti-money laundering act, pirteng dugaya lihokon. Hadlok mo masapon inyong mga kwarta nga bilyones?

[bossdak]

may ni kay kung wa na koy kwarta ikapalit ug pagkaon kay mo adto ko sa pulis magdala sa akong hdd magpadakop para ma priso ug ma libre ang pagkaon ug puy anan. derp. lolz.

[cebu_doki]

what happen if you have download movies and music in your laptap and android cell phone ? are they going to open all those from your laptap and moble phone ? to all incoming plane passenger at the airport ? any comment pls