What are the legal penalties for a 1201 violation?
According to 17 U.S.C. 1204, criminal prosecution for a 1201 violation is limited to intentional violations committed for commercial or personal financial gain. In other words, you can’t go to jail for downloading DeCSS or for giving a copy to someone else, unless possibly you’re doing so in contempt of court. In the situation of a criminal prosecution, the first offense of a 1201 violation carries up to a five year prison sentence and a US$500,000 fine. Each subsequent offense carries up to ten years and US$1,000,000. The vast bulk of copyright cases that are tried in U.S. courts are not criminal, but civil. The current court cases are all civil cases; the defendents are not being tried as criminals, but in fact are being sued. The fact is, if all copyright cases were tried as criminal cases the courts would be clogged for decades and no one else would be prosecuted. 17 U.S.C. 1203 grants the court the power to award several types of civil remedies, including attorneys fees, injunctio
