What is the No Electronic Theft Act?

Congress enacted the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act in 1997 to facilitate prosecution of copyright violation on the Internet. The NET Act makes it a federal crime to reproduce, distribute, or share copies of electronic copyrighted works such as songs, movies, games, or software programs, even if the person copying or distributing the material acts without commercial purpose and/or receives no private financial gain. Prior to this law being passed, people who intentionally distributed copied software over the Internet did not face criminal penalties if they did not profit from their actions. Electronic copyright infringement carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The NET Act is applicable in situations such as running a file sharing application with outgoing transfers enabled, hosting files on a web account, transferring files through IRC, and other methods of making copyrighted material available over networks. For more, see What happens if I receive a copyright infringement notice, and how can I avoid it?

The following resources may also be helpful:

• US Department of Justice, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section's Summary of Changes to the Criminal Copyright and Trademark Laws
• UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy Archive

Also see:

• What are MP3 files, and are they legal?
• In file sharing software, how can I disable outbound file sharing?
• What is IU policy on "warez" and software piracy?
• What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?
• Posting copyrighted materials online