Copying RIAA’s tactics in the music industry, the MPAA has filed a lawsuit to stop online video piracy. Like RIAA, the MPAA is doomed to fail. Copyright laws are old, obsolete, and can’t keep pace with modern technology.

However, be sure to protect your business and your personal assets by not putting yourself in a position to be accused of copyright infringement. The penalties are heavy if you’re one of the few who do get caught and made an example of to deter others.

In a related story, Media Rights Technologies is asking Congress to go after Microsoft and Apple for allegedly aiding and abetting online piracy. What a waste of time and effort.

The government goes after individuals for this…not multinational corporations. Here’s an example. A British citizen was extradited to the United States from his home in Australia to face piracy charges. He pled guilty and will serve 51 months in a federal prison.

AT&T just announced that it will be filtering pirated content on its networks. Here’s the problem with that. What happens when you deliver something over AT&T’s network that is perfectly legal but the company disagrees? Branded a pirate. How do you prove your innocence? Look for this to be a logistical nightmare.

About the Author

With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 14 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young shows entrepreneurs how to protect and grow their businesses online. He's the author of Internet Marketing Legal Secrets Revealed. Not just a lawyer who focuses exclusively on Internet and marketing law, Mike’s been working with computers for more than 27 years (his first computer was an Atari 400 with 8 KiB RAM) and started representing Internet businesses back in 1996.