Copyright Reform in South America - Columbia Bill 201

The reform of copyright may be having trouble getting through in the US however, this hasn't stopped US authorities from pushing for it in other countries. The Colombian Bill 201 will implement penalties for violations of copyright which are more severe than the norms across the world. This is part of the country's efforts to build stronger commercial relations to the US. Services will secure traffic so that it is not monitored while in transit, which makes the impossible else to observe what information is being exchanged , or between which servers and computers the information is transferred.
Anyone who is found to be infringing copyright rights in Columbia should Bill 201 is passed will be subject to severe penalties. The law requires prison sentences to be mandatory as included in the legislation. Additionally, there are provisions that allow individuals to receive substantial fines. This law is even more harsh that those under the US law, as per information provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The law, for instance is not clear on the amount of copyright infringement needed to trigger these severe sanctions. As per this EFF article, a person who has made a CD for their friend could face these penalties.
In the US the length of copyrights was increased through Congress in the year 2000 in an act that was dubbed by those who opposed it"the "Mickey Mouse Act" or "Mickey Mouse Law". The entertainment industry was able to extend copyrights to allow corporations to have a property for a period of 70 years after the date they first published it, instead of the 50 years stipulated in the earlier law. This extends to Columbia as well in accordance with the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Columbia An agreement the Columbian government reached with the US six years ago, and that calls for stricter copyright regulations.