Alfred Hitchcock said:
Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
And indeed it's getting very intense with the report of Digital Britain defining what digital expansion in Britain will be introduced (hopefully... but with the political state at the moment I wouldn't hold my breath). On the other hand it promises to cramp down on illegal downloading. With the threat of "3 strikes and your out" at bay for the time being it's a worry what will become of Internet freedom and privacy in the UK. If these sorts of laws become reality I'm moving country.
As Cory Doctorow explains somewhat sarcastically:
I mean, it's not as though Internet access is something important right?
This trivial bit of kit is so unimportant that it's only natural that we
equip the companies that brought us Police Academy 11, Windows Vista, Milli
Vanilli and Celebrity Dancing With the Stars with wire-cutters that allow them
to disconnect anyone in the country on their own say-so, without proving a
solitary act of wrongdoing.
An excellent article.
Most problems are related to people not being able to afford CD's, DVDs, software extra. I happily pay for music on itunes or other media as its quick, reliable and affordable. I'll happily start using the DVD products as well, if only my broadband could handle it...
People now pay for downloads as the technology advances. It's quick, cheap and easy. With electronic distribution costing next to nothing, paying for downloads should become cheaper... (hint hint Apple...). Like any business model - offers, sales should be advertised... instead of spending money chasing down illegal downloaders.
Teenagers who don't have their own income and students are the biggest culprits for illegal downloading. If only these companies would take this in account. If only the CEO's of record companies remembered what it was like being strapped for cash. I'm not saying this is right but being a student if software was discounted enough, I paid for it. It's better than any illegal software, it gets updated and is safe to use. However offers like that are far and few in between.
I'm not saying that there aren't people around who download constantly and take the piss. Sure there are... but then so are many criminals roaming our streets, does that mean we should introduce house arrest and police should start patrolling the streets?
Why are we even considering introducing this on the Internet. Crime is part of social interactions, we have not eradicated it over the centuries in any other areas of human life.
The rant is nearly other but what I don't understand is that why this is all going on in the UK, France, US and other developed countries when the biggest offenders are in Asian countries where buying a pirate DVD may set you back... ohh I don't know, maybe 50p.
Personally I'm more ticked off MP's partners downloading porn and my hard working money paying for it, than a teenager downloading music he/she can't afford.
And a blogger on BBC agrees...
Maybe people would stop downloading illegally if this was condemned by some
of the most righteous people in the land. I am thus looking forward to MP's
condemning downloading as utterly indefensible yet admitting that they employ a
researcher to do their downloading and charge their wages to the taxpayer.
clive of india
