UK Gov't Tells ISPs They Need To Play Copyright Cops For Record Labels
from the due-process-means-nothing dept
Back in February, we noted that the UK government was putting a lot of pressure on ISPs to "voluntarily" agree to act as copyright cops for the entertainment industry -- sending out industry threat letters to users (often based on flimsy evidence) and even kicking off users who are "accused" of unauthorized file sharing three times (the infamous "three strikes") policy. While the government backed off a little, saying that it was up to the industry to work out the details, apparently the "tone" has changed and the government is back to putting serious pressure on ISPs to cave in to entertainment industry demands: "The British government just put a gun to our head," is how one ISP exec put it. That means they were basically told to give in or legislation would show up forcing them to give in. Chalk another one up for the entertainment industry lobby, effectively getting governments to protect an obsolete business model once again.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: copyright, copyright cops, isps, uk
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Can thay
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That's the thing that really worries me about this kind of thing. As noted many times, the RIAA have sued the dead, people who don't own computers and people who have never seen the files they were accused of sharing. Yet, we're suppose to believe that they and their UK counterparts are capable of correctly identifying them now?
This will probably last until the first teleworker takes them to court for lost business after being falsely accused. Unfortunately, given the speed of trials that will take years. Meanwhile, the music industry will continue to decline because piracy isn't their actual problem...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shiver Me Timbers
How is this sustainable ? Eventually everyone will be disconnected, but there will still be copyright infringement to battle - right ? By then the RIAA will just deduct the fee directly from your bank account, because it is too difficult to bother with due process and all.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Good points.
If the entertainment industries themselves can't even keep track of what they own, let alone what is legit, how could they ever possibly expect the ISP's to do this?
It is preposterous.
If I owned an ISP, I would say sure, but only once the industry gives us the filters to check for these, and the instant it gives a single false positive, I will refuse to use it. Then I would set up many tests like those described above with legitimate torrents and such. Catches a single one of those, sorry, back to the drawing board for their filter. If the MAFIAA wants it, they should pay 110% of the bill, not the ISPs.
How could it ever possibly be legal to force an entirely different industry to pay for your own failures to adapt?
They must be buying politicians or something. Common sense alone defeats the industry on this one.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
About time
Time for some new innovation to hit the piracy scene, and theres nothing quite like a bit of legal pressure to provide that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Exactly!
Exactly right, SteveD. And this is the point that the RIAA just can't seem to comprehend. They are their own worst enemy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Time Warner in San Antonio...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Monopolies have power to fight the government demands
My point is, if the ISP situation is monopoly like and the government is making really stupid demands, it is easy for them to raise rates and send out emails to their customers explaining why they are raising rates and what the citizens can do about it (IE protest, write letters to the house of lords, ect). Explain that the government is forcing them to expand their bureaucracy and they have to pass the costs onto the customers.
I think the hard part is getting into a monopoly position in the first place.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]