"State lawmakers in country music's capital have passed a groundbreaking measure that would make it a crime to use a friend's login — even with permission — to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix or Rhapsody."

"The legislation was aimed at hackers and thieves who sell passwords in bulk, but its sponsors acknowledge it could be employed against people who use a friend's or relative's subscription."

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/06/02/tenn-passes-web-entertainment-theft-bill/

I think this is, at it's base, a breach of privacy. Assuming the Netflix EULA does not clearly state that you can't share your account (which I'm unsure of), the state has no right to tell me I can't allow a friend to use my account. What's the difference between me letting them use it, or them coming over to my house all the time? They'd still be watching movies on my account.

It's understandable that companies and states both desire to get rid of digital theft, but let's face some facts: Piracy is NOT going away. Theft has been around for as long as humans have, online piracy is just one of it's latest iterations. And punishing people for allowing a friend to use their account for a while isn't going to stop the problem.

What do you guys think?

And yet, instead of stopping them, all this does is catch people who weren't doing it in the first place. Heh, smart.

Edit: Actually, I'm willing to bet that was an intentional lie. The real purpose of this is to get more people to subscribe instead of relying on their relatives or friends to let them use their accounts, therefore increasing profits.

Uhg. Why does the media always portray hackers as evil dirty creatures? Hackers are what built the cyber security infrastructure, and what harden that infrastructure. They are the people who set up the major security conferences and publish the most popular security tools and techniques (usually as open source too)....

Well, enough of me ranting...

Anyway: How dare Tennessee publish this before California does

What! This was done in Tennessee?! A Deep South Bible Belt Conservative state?! I understand why they did it, but this is way to intrusive.

And they usually do such a good job of separating a group of people from their most extreme members, too.

^

Yup there's always good and bad that's why there's white/good hackers and black/dark hackers as far as i'm told. The white hackers are sometimes even paid to hack into a computer system to find flaws so that they can be fixed. They generally do not compromise a security system to extort money, obtain information to sell, etc... . That is usually the domain of the black/dark hacker which is the person the media portrays.

Even the hats are just a subset of what a hacker is. A hacker is just someone who releases clever code or uses something in a way it was never designed to be used or otherwise modifying it. But in the end, yeah, what you do with the hack determines your "hattedness"

SSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Don't speak too loud! California will hear you, and I won't be able to use my parent's netflix anymore!!!!!! I have been able to keep my sanity in college with my parent's netlfix account! If California passes this.... I'm coming for you... :toughninja:

That's what happens when the political system is a corporations female dog.

The law looks like a good idea done badly.

Clearly, they want to prohibit someone giving their account info to others so many can use it without paying for their own. I'd like to think the TBI will know better than to pursue someone who is using someone's account AT THAT PERSON'S HOME as compared to someone who is letting SEVERAL people use their account to use the service for free.

If the law specified that the account had to be used by someone other than the account owner at a location other than the account owner's locales of regular use when the account owner was not present in order for a violation to occur, I'd be less concerned about misapplication of the law.

Your fight for hackers makes me think you're a hacker. I mean, you've got a lot of computer knowledge, and you agree with their ideology...thus you're one of them!

Good idea in Theory but I'll have to wait and see if it will actually work. Preventing Piracy isn't the answer, what is the answer is stopping the pirates. You don't kill the snake by cutting it's tail off you kill it by chopping it's head off.

It won't. Legal officials here in Tennessee are idiots of the highest degree.

For instance, Tennessee law states that...

...whales are the only "game" you can shoot from a moving automobile. (cuz we Tennesseeans have guns that can shoot satellites out of orbit)
...it is illegal to catch a fish with a lasso. (even though it's so much easier than using them com-plee-cated fishin' poles)
...more than 8 women may not live in the same house because that would constitute a brothel. (and that would be bad, mmmkaay?)
...hollow logs may not be sold. (cuz they're, y'know, hollow)
...stealing a horse is punishable by hanging. (but stealin' a car ain't)
...it is legal to gather and consume roadkill. (how else we gonna eat in this economy?)
...in Dyersburg, it is illegal for a woman to call a man for a date. (cuz that would make her a "call girl", right?)
...in Feyette County, you may not have more than five inoperable vehicles on a piece of property. (so owning an auto repair shop is a nightmare)


:stare: Some of us didn't want that to be public knowledge!

My dad's friend hacks computers of husbands or wives to find evidence of cheating. I guess thats a form of good hacking...depending on whos eyes your looking from.

Using hacks to pry into others' private lives?

If he has a high moral code, white hat?
If it's a business, blue hat?
If it's for lolz, black hat.

Why are these things measured with hats? lol

Old cowboy fillums: the bad guys tended to wear black hats and the good guys white ones, and the differentiation has tended to be used elsewhere.

Obviously they do. :shrug:

oh [censored], you mean people might actually have to pay for stuff they want to use?

Not really, not when it's my account in question. Granted, there are other things which modify that, but when it's a private account held by myself with a private company which is NOT performing illegal activities on either end, then no, they have no right to tell me what to do.

The problem with laws and measures preventing piracy is that it NEVER hurts pirates, rather it hurts individuals such as myself how don't intentionally break the law. The paying customers are the ones that get [censored] with this, not the illegal users.

That's my take on it.

And every state its fair share has stupid laws, I think Alabama has yours beat, Tennessee:

Bear wrestling matches are prohibited.
incistuous marriages are legal.
It is illegal to impersonate a person of the clergy.
It is illegal to maim oneself to escape duty.
It is considered an offense to open an umbrella on a street, for fear of spooking horses.
Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.
It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.
Boogers may not be flicked in the wind.
Etc. etc.

But the thing is... they do. No, it's not hurting many pirates, but it's the fact that they are preventing people from sharing accounts, etc.

@MorrowindFan
hmmm well regardless of how you feel avbout it, the account may be yours, but you dont own any of the products, so you cant really claim any right to them., can you?

Lol pretty much this. This won't do anything, except maybe drive the 0.01% of the population of Tennessee that this effects into doing other activities which generate 0 income for the companies in question. At least with sharing a Netflix account or whatever, there's at least one person paying, while the others that aren't paying wouldn't do so anyways in most cases. Man, I just love our legal system.

The article is not specific enough in what security measures the entertainment media providers take.
Sharing passwords within the same nuclear family dwelling I understand. Sharing a parent's password with an entire college dormitory floor is not only asinine in terms of security, but inconsiderate as hell.
Will data be tracked? Will only electronics registered via the billing address be considered vaild for utilization of the account? Will the account holder recieve notification if suspicious activity, ( long distance log ins in relation to billing address or internet provider, excessive downloads/streams, sudden change in genre taste, or frequency of simultaneous log ins) occurs? This sets a precedent for other states, Tenessee needs to go carefully. I would imagine prosecuting an account holder would involve masses of data and records.
I can understand both the need to have security in place, and the flip side of the need to have mobility in when and where I acess my entertainment.

Moral of the story: Don't share your password unless you really trust the individual. You will be liable for account activity.