S. 978 passes Senate Judiciary Committee, heads to full Senate

Just last month we reported on the introduction of S. 978, the bill that would impose felony penalties for some unauthorized streaming of copyrighted audio or audiovisual content. We opined that the bill was likely be getting some attention and movement.

Right we were.

On June 16, S.978 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a simple voice vote, less than one month after introduction. Maybe not the fastest legislative action we’ve ever seen, but certainly fast enough to suggest strong prospects for passage in a Congress where any forward motion is news. It’s also worth noting that a “related” bill cracking down on copyright infringement – S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (short for “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011”, but you probably already had that figured out) – made it through that same Committee three weeks ago, so there’s a good chance that both could go to the Senate floor at the same time.

Check back here for updates – we’ll keep you posted.