Technological developments related to the Internet benefit consumers who want convenient ways to view and hear information and entertainment content on a variety of electronic devices (such as televisions, radios, computers, mobile phones, video game consoles, and portable media players). New technologies offer the potential to help copyright holders promote their creative works for artistic, educational, and commercial reasons. However, new technologies may increase the risk of infringement of the copyright holders' rights because they often provide faster, cheaper, and easier means of engaging in unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and public performance of copyrighted works than previous technologies. The widespread consumer use of high-speed Internet connections as well as increased reliance on data storage offered by "cloud computing" services may also contribute to infringement problems. One relatively recent technological development is Internet streaming. Streaming allows a person to view or listen to creative content without first needing to download a data file containing the content onto a hard drive or memory card, assuming the user's electronic device maintains an active connection to the Internet during the duration of the performance of the material. There are many legitimate streaming websites that offer on-demand streams of television programs, motion pictures, live sporting events, and sound recordings. However, so-called "rogue" websites willfully stream copyrighted content without the permission of the copyright holder, thus violating the copyright holder's exclusive right to control public performance of the work. By offering consumers an unauthorized alternative for obtaining streaming content, these rogue websites may reduce the number of people who would otherwise visit the legitimate providers of copyrighted material. Such harm to the legitimate market for streaming of copyrighted content may negatively impact the U.S. film and television industries as well as the U.S. economy as a whole. In addition, some believe that rogue websites "expose consumers to criminals, who routinely collect personal and financial information from unsuspecting targets, subjecting those consumers not only to fraud and deceit, but also to identity theft and other harms." To enforce their intellectual property rights, copyright holders may file a lawsuit against those who illegally stream their protected works. They may also file a lawsuit against those who engage in the unauthorized reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works (whether using Internet technologies or traditional methods). In addition to these civil remedies, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has the power to criminally prosecute particularly egregious copyright infringers (repeat and large-scale offenders) in order to impose greater punishment and possibly deter other would-be infringers. However, a disparity exists regarding the criminal penalties available for those who willfully infringe copyrights by means of reproduction and distribution (a felony offense in certain circumstances) and those who infringe copyrights by means of public performance (a misdemeanor). In the digital context, this means that DOJ prosecutors could seek felony penalties for those who engage in willful, unauthorized copying and distributing of copyrighted material using Internet technologies, depending on the specific facts of the allegedly infringing activity; such penalties include imprisonment sentences of up to 10 years. In comparison, prosecutors may only file misdemeanor charges that carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison against those who engage in willful, unauthorized online performance of copyrighted works. In March 2011, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) advised Congress to amend the law to authorize felony penalties for infringement of copyrights by streaming: Ensure Felony Penalties for Infringement By Streaming and by Means of Other New Technology: It is imperative that our laws account for changes in technology used by infringers. One recent technological change is the illegal streaming of content. Existing law provides felony penalties for willful copyright infringement, but felony penalties are predicated on the defendant either illegally reproducing or distributing the copyrighted work. Questions have arisen about whether streaming constitutes the distribution of copyrighted works (and thereby is a felony) and/or performance of those works (and thereby is a not a felony). These questions have impaired the criminal enforcement of copyright laws. To ensure that Federal copyright law keeps pace with infringers, and to ensure that DOJ and U.S. law enforcement agencies are able to effectively combat infringement involving new technology, the Administration recommends that Congress clarify that infringement by streaming, or by means of other similar new technology, is a felony in appropriate circumstances. This report describes streaming technology, explains the disparity in criminal penalties for different forms of infringement committed by electronic means, analyzes legislation in the 112 th Congress that would harmonize penalties for illegal streaming with those available for other forms of online copyright infringement, and summarizes arguments for and against such a legislative change. Copyright is a federal grant of legal protection for certain works of creative expression, including books, motion pictures, television shows, photographs, artwork, and music. A copyright holder possesses several exclusive legal entitlements under the Copyright Act, including the right to control reproduction, distribution, public performance, and public display of the protected material. Unauthorized use of a copyrighted work by a third party in a manner that implicates one of the copyright holder's exclusive rights constitutes infringement. The Copyright Act has both criminal and civil provisions for infringement. The copyright holder may file a lawsuit against an alleged infringer for a violation of any of the exclusive rights conferred by copyright. The civil remedies available to the copyright holder that is harmed by infringement include the possibility of obtaining injunctive relief, actual damages suffered by the copyright owner due to the infringement, statutory damages, and costs and attorney fees. While "civil law protects all the copyright owner's exclusive rights, criminal law primarily focuses on the rights of distribution and reproduction." Criminal copyright infringement includes the following offenses: copyright infringement for profit, 17 U.S.C. §506(a)(1)(A), 18 U.S.C. §2319(b); copyright infringement without a profit motive, 17 U.S.C. §506(a)(1)(B), 18 U.S.C. §2319(c); pre-release distribution of a copyrighted work over a publicly accessible computer network, 17 U.S.C. §506(a)(1)(C), 18 U.S.C. §2319(d); circumvention of copyright protection systems in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §1204; trafficking in counterfeit or illicit labels and counterfeit documentation and packaging for copyrighted works, 18 U.S.C. §2318; bootleg recordings of live musical performances, 18 U.S.C. §2319A; and unauthorized recording of motion pictures in a movie theater (camcording), 18 U.S.C. §2319B. Internet technologies such as instant messaging, e-mail, peer-to-peer file sharing, electronic bulletin boards, cyber-lockers (a cloud computing service offering remote data storage), and streaming allow for electronic transmission of data files. Although such technologies have legitimate purposes, they may also be misused in ways that infringe copyrights. Until recently, most forms of online copyright infringement involved violations of the copyright holder's reproduction and distribution rights; for example, rogue websites that offer illegal downloads of copyrighted movies and software, or peer-to-peer file sharing of copyrighted sound recordings, infringe both the copyright holder's reproduction right (through the unauthorized copying of copyrighted content) and distribution right (through the unauthorized dissemination of these unlawfully made copies). However, technological advances in recent years—such as increased capacity in network bandwidth, faster broadband connections for consumers, more powerful computer processors, new transmission protocols, and more efficient data compression methods—have made possible the public performances of a wide range of copyrighted works over the Internet, including live content (such as sporting events) or pre-recorded performances (such as television programming and motion pictures). Streaming technology enables such public performance of copyrighted material from a particular source to a destination such as a personal computer, television, smartphone, or video game console. Consumers have many ways of receiving entertainment content and information through legitimate video streaming websites such as Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, HBO GO, MLB.com, and Crackle. Video streaming now accounts for a significant portion of broadband Internet traffic, a percentage that is steadily growing as streaming websites increase in popularity. In addition to legitimate streaming websites, there are also "rogue" websites that use streaming technology to illegally distribute movies and television shows "because it is faster, cheaper, and more convenient" than providing often lengthy file downloads. The availability of such illegal alternatives for online streaming of copyrighted works means that "at any given time, users are one or two clicks away from listening to or viewing any television program, movie, music video or song in the world—all with no return to the creator." In addition to rogue streaming websites, there are also illegal "cyberlockers" that are file hosting services that encourage users to upload copyrighted content in order to store and "share" them (either through streaming or downloading) with other users. According to the Register of Copyrights, the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material infringes the copyright holder's right of public performance, and possibly also the rights of reproduction and distribution. As noted earlier, copyright holders may sue operators of illegal streaming websites to enforce their intellectual property rights. The federal government may also prosecute rogue streaming websites for criminal copyright infringement, although the remedies authorized by law appear to be limited to misdemeanor penalties. The difficulty in criminally prosecuting those who illegally stream copyrighted works is that the law is unclear whether the act of streaming is considered a distribution of a copyrighted work or a public performance of the work. Some claim that this lack of clarity over the availability of felony penalties for unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content has made federal prosecutors "reluctant to pursue cases against even the most egregious, illegal Internet streaming services" because they "tend to focus their limited resources and manpower on prosecuting felony offenses that might result in significant jail time."