Government cracking down on illegal downloaders

[adamhornsby]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Inte rnet-Service-Providers-In-Major-Crackdown-On-I llegal-Music-And-Film-Downloads/Article/200807 415052126?lpos=Business_3&lid=ARTICLE_15052126 _Internet%2BService%2BProviders%2BIn%2BMajor%2 BCrackdown%2BOn%2BIllegal%2BMusic%2BAnd%2BFilm %2BDownloads Glad to see our Government have their bl00dy priorities right. So it looks like knife crime, credit crunch, global warming and terrorism are not at least a little bit important compared to this.
Maybe if the Government opened their eyes they'd be able to see why we download illegaly, because we're taxed so much. Next we'll be taxed to bl00dy breathe! To be honest, i dont care about singers and pop stars, they're no better than the rest of us, and get paid more money and have no sense at all.
AARRGGHH!! It pi**es me off so much!
Stupid Government, they're all dam useless..

[Ethel]

Can't agree. You can legally buy the latest track for download at slightly less than a single cost in 1976. Really it is very cheap.

The music industry isn't just singers and pop stars - there are session musicians, studio technicians, promoters, admin staff , sleeve artists - thousands and thousands of people who aren't making 'big bucks' and never will. Lots of new bands, singers and songwriters too deserve their money.

You might download illegally - I don't. I love music and believe those involved in making it should get the money they are entitled to.

If you can't afford it - that does not entitle you to just help yourself to it.

I wouldn't work for nothing, and I don't expect something for nothing either.

[LeMarchand]

Whilst I agree that there are more serious crimes to worry about, I do get tired of the prevailing attitude that it's OK to download stuff without paying. There are always questions on AB from people who want to know how to do this, or when someone asks how to get (say) a film, people will tend to suggest illegal downloads before a DVD store.

I find one of the arguments for doing so most strange: people often say that if the music/film industry produced better product, then they would happily pay. If it's that rubbish, why waste your time on it in the first place?

[Postdog]

I sort of have mixed feelings - I have used file sharing to download stuff I know I couldn't get any other way, like obscure oldies etc, but for modern stuff I still buy CD's as I do not want DRM stuff limiting me to what I can play it on. Also, I just want a "hard copy" back up. I also realise that unless paid for, new stuff will suffer in the long term.

I had to laugh though when this was on the news. The powers that be aren't joking in trying to reclaim losses, and they had some pillock admitting to all and sundry he did it and will carry on doing it no matter what - bet he gets a tug in the near future.

[rov1200]

There's a serious side to this. Fading pop stars like Cliff Richards will not be able to receive royalties from his recordings up until he reaches 115 years old. He must be losing �millions on this illegal downloading.

[Ethel]

Al Fayed is making millions in his shop. His a multi billionaire and doesn't 'need' the money.

Does that mean it's okay to help yourself to his stock?

[jno]

ah, so theft is all Gordon Brown's fault - I thought so!

[Quinlad]

The article literally does not mention the government. It's the ISPs isn't it?

You seem very angry for very little reason.

Also, you seem to be suggesting that the government should only target the most serious issues and shouldn't waste its time on anything else. Do you have a list in mind of the most serious ones?

Presumably things like car tax, vandalism and military medals are a waste of time - the government should concentrate all its efforts on terrorism, cancer and rape.

[littleoldme]

Since when has illegal downloading been a protest against being overly taxed? People who download illegally do so because they think it's OK to thieve something relatively intangible - let's not pretend it's anything else. Initially, perhaps, greedy record companies brought some of this on themselves when they were making shops charge �13.99 or �14.99 for an album, but now they've had the wake-up call they needed, most legal downloads cost around 79p a track and �7.99 for a full album - a far more reasonable price. The only sad thing is that it has almost led to the death of specialist independent record shops who can't afford to compete.

Is this the most important matter facing Britain today? No, of course not, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored. The Government are not making unreasonable demands here - they simply want us to pay for the privilege of owning someone else's work. I fail to see what is wrong with that.

I also agree with every single word of Ethel's excellent first post.

[littleoldme]

*Oops. As Quinlad points out, it's the ISPs we're talking about here, not the Government.

[stokemaveric]

the ''pop stars'' of today are rich enough and all the people who make money out of these ''stars'' are also too rich,they are only too happy to use the internet to promote themselves and their music its tough its just like ''outsourcing'' like what has happened to millions of people in the industry in which they work ie the textile industry and closer to home to my good self the pottery industry here in stoke on trent.at the end of the day this govt doesnt like people getting something on the cheap

[Ethel]

How many more times, Stoke - it is not the government that is doing this.

And new bands and musicians are not rich. How do you expect them to make money if they are not selling records?

And anyway, just because somebody is wealthy it does not entitle you to steal from them.

This clampdown is happening worldwide - not just in the UK.

[littleoldme]

Spot on again, Ethel. Also, it's not like outsourcing at all. At least with outsourcing, the people who produce the work do end up getting paid something for their efforts. With illegal downloading, those who produce the work get nothing. People are not "getting something on the cheap", they're getting it for free, because they are stealing it.

Illegal downloading is theft and there is no excuse.

[jno]

It's not exactly theft. If I steal your car, I've got a car and you haven't. If I steal your music, I've got music - but so have you and you can still sell it to others. What you've lost isn't the music but some money you might have expected from me for the right to listen to it. This is near enough to theft as far as I'm concerned; but it's not quite the same thing.

[bazwillrun]

I suggest you look at the ISP's that are jumping into bed with the BPI.........oh my what an amazing coincidence , all those ISP's also just happen to be in the music business.

Yes thats right they all just happen to be offering music to buy via download !!!!

Who'd of thought it !

[Ethel]

jno - it is theft of intellectual property.

You still have something you haven't paid for which you should have.
The people who should have been paid when you acquired that copy, haven't been.


Most ISPs sell music downloads - it stands to reason that without an ISP you couldn't download from anybody.

[Oneeyedvic]

Erm, this is a government plan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7522334. stm

Six of the UK's biggest net providers have agreed a plan with the music industry to tackle piracy online.

The deal, negotiated by the government, will see hundreds of thousands of letters sent to net users suspected of illegally sharing music.

Hard core file-sharers could see their broadband connections slowed, under measures proposed by the UK government

[Ethel]

The BPI have been pressuring the government for years to make it possible to stamp out privacy - here the government is negotiating ways to make it possible.

This is BP led and as intellectual property theft is illegal the government is simply negotiating ways to enforce their own laws.

The government is not 'cracking down' - it is finding ways to enforce the current law after years of hectoring by the BPI. Read the link again.

[Oneeyedvic]

The government is not 'cracking down' - it is finding ways to enforce the current law after years of hectoring by the BPI.

Isn't that what cracking down is - enforcing the law?

[RevFunk]

Just as a matter of interest for 79p spent on an Itunes download the artist gets between 6-8p and the record company gets 50p.

Mcfly did their free album give away because they literally make NO money from album sales.