Justin Bieber: Senator Klobuchar Should Be Locked Up For Felony Streaming Bill

by Mike Masnick
Techdirt
Oct. 29, 2011

Earlier today we wrote about how Justin Bieber's lawyers were threatening the folks behind the FreeBieber advocacy project, which highlights some of the problems with Senator Amy Klobuchar's dangerous and ill-thought out bill to make streaming video a possible felony. It appears that his "people" didn't discuss this much with Bieber himself. During a radio interview, the host asked Bieber about the law, explaining how it would make streaming a felony, and his response was that Klobuchar "should be locked up," a point he reiterated a few times.

They then go on to discuss it a bit, and Bieber talks about the importance of being able to upload and stream videos and to perform other people's songs. He talks about how people "need the freedom" to perform songs. He also notes that it's "awesome" when others perform his works. Of course, Klobuchar's office claims that Bieber must have "misunderstood" the bill, but he's right. The bill is "silly," and targets exactly the wrong thing. It's good to see him speaking out on this subject, and it shows how Klobuchar (and the House supporters of E-PARASITE, which also has a similar felony streaming law), need to rethink this bill.