The MPAA, ESA, RIAA, and SIIA all announced this past Thursday that CDs, video games, and DVDs will recieve an FBI copyright warning label. The label's purpose is to inform owners of the severe penalties for making or distributing unauthorized copies of copyrighted material.
The new FBI warning label will state the following. "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."
For those of you a bit overwhelmed by the number of names thrown around in the first sentence of this post, the following are what each of the organizations stand for.
- RIAA = Recording Industry Association of America
- MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
- ESA = Entertainment Software Association
- SIIA = Software & Information Industry Association
Source: MPAA, ESA, RIAA, SIIA