Entertainment For Lively Minds
'Are the Net police coming for you?'
Posted by Lunaman on 15 March 2010 - 8:35am.
Panorama tonight - 8.30pm
'A proposed new law is threatening to disconnect the millions of internet users who unlawfully download free music, films and TV. Jo Whiley looks at how broadband use at home may never be the same, and could even be cut off.'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rl4dl
I'm sure the Massive will be interested in this show tonight.
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Just read the statement again -
How can downloading 'free' music,films and TV be unlawful. I think they mean millions of internet users who unlawfully download music,films&TV'. Sorry to be picky but.....
The usefulness of Sub-editors
Subs revel in picking that kind of thing up but are a dying breed!
On the other hand...
Germany's highest court last week declared that any attempt at storing (and using) internet traffic data infringes on the citizen's rights. (A few years ago police were allowed to access the telecom and ISP providers' files which track customers internet and telephone traffic.)
The judges stated that looking into these files is only allowed with a court's permission in severe criminal cases and "not in downloading and filesharing cases".
The police of course are now whingeing that they "cannot fight terrorism anymore"...
Well of course
everyone knows that Al Qaeda spend most of their time illegally downloading U2 and Lady Gaga albums. I've heard that Osama is quite a fan of The Beatles
Funny:
I always thought he was more at home with Einstürzende Neubauten.
Too soon...?
Well........
I knew those coded messages were there for a reason...!
According to McCartney, Maybe I'm Amazed has a recipe for a terrific lentil soup if played backwards.
Well they won't be coming for me...
I don't download anything illegally!
I use iPlayer Grabber...
...a bit, but other than that I'm 100% legit. Still, I wonder if the nation's resources might be better employed than in protecting revenue streams for a few big companies who were too stupid, fifteen years ago, to see this coming.
I don't approve of filesharing and the like, particularly, but as soon as t'internet came into view, I can't believe the major media firms didn't realise that electronic distribution would threaten their existing business model. If they're dying, it's their own bloody fault for not reading the writing on the wall.
I tend to find the industries' whinging on a par with someone who leaves his front door open, goes on holiday, then tries to get his insurance company to pay out when he returns and finds that his house has been burgled.
I do feel campaigners against this bill
would make better use of their time finding ways to ensure bands composer get some money for their work rather than banging on about people losing their access to Internet. Sure it's a hammer to crack a nut but everyone who uses the internet will during the course of a week access (if not download) content that the producer of which will not be paid . Finding a sensible way forward on this is what's needed not sob stories about people being not able to access facebook.
Just thought I'd say that
I'm merely pointing out that the programme is on tonight and might be of interest to us. Personally I'm a member of PRS and also not squeaky clean on the piracy side so I'll watch and see and then possibly comment.
wasn't having a pop at you
just that over last few weeks the threat of being cut off seems to be the only thing discussed.
Cheers Chris
Just thought I'd say in case it was miss interpreted.
Who are the
Brain Police? He asked.
free music
I've colocated a number of servers in a seriously big Internet Data Centre on a populous island a tad south of China. This IDC also hosts the Gateway for that island. I have it on very good authority that 85% of the traffic travelling through that Gateway is Bit Torrent related.
For goodness sake, when is anyone going to realise that you cannot uninvent technology and you are damn foolish to try and legislate against it.
Google's crowning achievement in China (apart from the fratboy diplomacy)? They made it free to search for and download music legitimately:
http://mashable.com/2009/03/30/google-china-free-music-downloads/
or if you prefer some hot sino sounds:
http://www.google.cn/music/homepage
Interesting
That the majors are willing to operate a different business model in China.
I'll take a look.
I'm always interested in seeing special interest groups using Parliament to prop up their failed business model. That thump was the sound of the digital stable door closing.
I liked the bloke from the BPI
discussing business models in front of a videoscreen showing a sneering John Lydon from 'So It Goes' - hollywood baby, coming for you, get off your arse etc
Disappointing
I thought the programme was disappointing. Not enough information on the subject. Billy Bragg's comment re 'taking turntables away from peoples houses will not encourage people to purchase more music' was well made. I also think this proposed bill will have a hard time when and if it trys to prosecute individuals in the courts, should the Bill succeed.
I thought Panorama was a better programme, maybe it was when it was on later and was longer in length
Spot on, Lunaman ..
.. especially the observation that the programme was too short.
Confession time though .. as a "middle-aged-(57+)-nearing-the-grave-boring-old-git", I don't download ANY music, legally or otherwise. In common (I hope!!) with many others of my era, I prefer a hard copy, which used to mean vinyl, but these days means CDs.
My take on things is that I can't imagine a workable law to combat so called "illegal" downloading.
I am rather more technically savvy
(it's my job)
so I do download music. And I admit that, on occasion, it has been hooky. Overwhelmingly not I would add, and usually to test the water before going legal as I too like having the tangible asset at the end of everything. And I buy a lot of stuff, so I suspect that I'm not necessarily the target here.
From a technological standpoint it is damn near impossible to effectively screen out this traffic, whether it goes over the web by direct download, via web services like Rapidshare, via bitTorrent or (more complicated still), via other distributed technologies like Freenet. The latter could be used as a distribution channel even though that is not its principal use. In fact, determining exactly what Freenet is being used for is pretty much impossible given the encryption architecture. The only way for the authorities to do it would be get obtain a RIPA order to seize encryption keys used for those transactions (and that may not be straightforward). Not likely to play well with the widening participation agenda about getting more people onto the web being tooted out now.
We are currently in the midst of a change equally as cataclysmic as the introduction of the printing press in the latter half of the 15th century. The technology has exploded into use much more quickly than our ability to manage it socially and it will take several decades for this change to produce more settled social mores. It took around 30-50 years for Gutenburg's presses to really make their mark socially. We're at the same point in around 20 with the so-called 'new media'. In the meantime, the music industry is not doing itself any favours by alienating its future audiences, nor is it helping the artists. Nor is Digital Britain and its fudging over IP issues helping any.
There are unfortunately no easy answers, but trying to work out how an artist should be able to profit from their work in a reasonable way should be the goal that we all look at. And as we saw on last night's Panorama, there is not even any consensus there over how to go forward.
one thing sprung to mind
isn't Billy Bragg full of shit. I used to like the bloke but it's alright for him he doesn't need to sell any records and no one would want to illegally gownload one of his songs anyway. Where is the left wing ideology in up and coming artists not being paid for their music.
Have to say I don't agree re Billy Bragg
1. I think he does need to sell records and collect publishing rights.
2. I don't know where you find that he doesn't think that up & coming artists need to be paid.
I thought that he tried to keep his music off spotify/myspace/youtube etc as we didn't think he was going to be paid correctly.
Just seen this programme
seemed a reasonable mainstream coverage of the story. Could have been a bit longer and didn't suggest anyway forward other than the present bill but would have introduced the problem to the majority of public who know nothing about this.
Update
Seems they managed to slip the law one step closer at the last knockings yesterday. I don't hold much hope that the lords will stop it going through.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8608478.stm