Well ... of course it's not ... only if large numbers of people get caught and fined or sent to prison ... somehow I feel that if that happened the prison system would not be able to handle it. Basically the prison system is overloaded as is, in some states they release people with minor offenses from jail to make room for those who commit more serious crimes.
Yes, but may I point out that more and more, the US government is for sale to people with $$?
Already, there are laws on the books for taking a video camera into a movie theatre. These have harsher jail terms than for most violent crimes. No, I'm not kidding. Beat the shit out of someone, and you will get out of jail faster than if you get caught with a video camera in a movie house.
That is, if they bother to prosecute the violent perp in the first place. From my experiences, I can tell you that that the police probably won't even bother to arrest the perp, even if they have witnesses and know exactly where he is (unless he puts his victim in the hospital). Cops just don't care... but OMFG pirating a movie!!!! You evil son of a bitch!