Danish ISP Blocks The Pirate Bay; But Is It For Legal Reasons... Or Competitive?
from the legal-excuses dept
A year ago, recording industry lobbying group IFPI successfully convinced a Danish court to force ISP Tele2 to block The Pirate Bay. This came after a similar ruling that forced Tele2 to block access to AllofMp3 (which, you'll recall was the big "threat" prior to The Pirate Bay). Of course, these blocks don't work particularly well, and seem incredibly annoying for those content creators who actually want their content distributed through systems like The Pirate Bay.Tele2 appealed the ruling, and another court found that, indeed, ISPs should be forced to block access to The Pirate Bay. While that case is being appealed to the country's Supreme Court, it appears that other ISPs are being pressured to start blocking as well. Denmark's largest ISP, TDC, is now blocking access to The Pirate Bay.
Torrentfreak suggests that TDC is worried about a similar lawsuit, and did this as a preventative measure, but I have to wonder if some of the thinking is competitive. Last April, TDC announced a deal whereby its customers could download unlimited music... though it was really more of a subscription rental service that included DRM. So, basically, here's a way that TDC gets to block out a "competitor" to its own service, and then blame the legal rulings for being able to do so...
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Filed Under: blocking, competition, denmark
Companies: pirate bay, tdc, tele2
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Business as usual.
At least a gun to the face is an honest representation of their intentions!
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Fear of the Dumb Pipe
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Re: Fear of the Dumb Pipe
It's like "super cheap shoes" vs "lifetime warranty shoes"
You can sell super cheap shoes over and over and over; but eventually people get sick of paying for the same crap. With lifetime warranty shoes, you may only sell one pair per customer, but there are enough people being born the world over to keep you in business for... well, for as long as there's a population to sell to.
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It's astonishing that a service which sold music at a price people were willing to pay was somehow a threat. You know the music industry is in trouble when the free market is a threat to their business model!
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douche bags
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Pirating is illegal for a reason. Yes, you can give away you're creative goods through a sly free marketing campaign (see NIN and Radiohead). But in the end, the artist has an inherent right to sell their valuable created goods if they so choose. They join a record label to get exposure. Regardless if you believe the labels are ass backwards at the moment or not. Remember that any unsigned musician can distribute their creative goods through P2P means instead of joining a label. The fact of the matter is that they have chosen to sell it and make a decent living. They have a right to make a better living than the rest of us because they have an uncommon ability to create art.
If it's for sale and you want to own a piece of it. Buy it. If you can't buy it, tough shit. That's how the market works. If everything was free in this world we would have no way of keeping a productive and intelligent society. We'd be no better off than the worse economies of the world where nobody gives a shit about any laws in place. Slippery slope, I know. But a comparison nonetheless.
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Please refrain from commenting until you've obtained both education and the ability to reason.
(Additional study: After your econ classes; learn about how a "resource based economy" works.)
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Opinion, irrelevant.
"Pirating is illegal for a reason. Yes, you can give away you're creative goods through a sly free marketing campaign (see NIN and Radiohead). But in the end, the artist has an inherent right to sell their valuable created goods if they so choose. They join a record label to get exposure. Regardless if you believe the labels are ass backwards at the moment or not. Remember that any unsigned musician can distribute their creative goods through P2P means instead of joining a label. The fact of the matter is that they have chosen to sell it and make a decent living. They have a right to make a better living than the rest of us because they have an uncommon ability to create art."
Laws exist to assist those in power (see: money) in staying in power (again, see: money).
Value: the amount (of money or goods or services) that is considered to be a fair equivalent for something else. (emphasis added)
Given the rapidly declining price of music, and the rampant piracy of music, obviously the value of recorded music is very low. However, I will concede the value of the artist's time (a one-time expenditure) in creating said work.
"... If everything was free in this world we would have no way of keeping a productive and intelligent society. We'd be no better off than the worse(sic) economies of the world where nobody gives a shit about any laws in place..."
People will naturally be productive and creative--money is entirely irrelevant to it.
In Hong Kong, an experiment involving complete relaxation of import/export laws and workplace standards took place--amazing economic output ensued. More taxes + more laws == worse economy.
Also, you, sir, are obviously ignorant. Go get some education, and learn to think while you're there.
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The reality is that this is a war. War is hell, and war is negative. The Entertainment Industry is holding us hostage while they attempt to protect a dying business model that can't be saved by using any means necessary with no regard for the negative consequences that might come about.
Piracy may be illegal but it's not going away. The Entertainment Industry doesn't even seem to be aware of this. Nope they choose to ignore this fact and trot out one terrible idea after another, most of which involves some other entity doing the work for them, with no regard for the actual cost, time, and resources it might take.
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That is one of the more rediculous theories I have heard in a long time. They have a right . . . LMAO
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How is it "negative" to show new business models that work well, and decry moves that limit those business models? That seems innately positive to me.
Pirating is illegal for a reason.
Indeed. Who said otherwise?
Yes, you can give away you're creative goods through a sly free marketing campaign (see NIN and Radiohead). But in the end, the artist has an inherent right to sell their valuable created goods if they so choose.
Indeed. Who said otherwise? You seem to be confusing the idea of selling a good you created vs. limiting what others can then do with it. That confusion leads you down a very confused path.
And, actually, where do you get the idea that the right is "inherent." It is not. It is a choice made by the gov't for a reason... and plenty of studies have shown that the reason given by the gov't doesn't actually match up with what happened in reality. Doesn't that seem like a problem to you? Or do you except the reason and ignore the data?
They join a record label to get exposure. Regardless if you believe the labels are ass backwards at the moment or not.
What does that have to do with an ISP blocking The Pirate Bay?
Remember that any unsigned musician can distribute their creative goods through P2P means instead of joining a label.
Um, they can't when your ISP blocks all the P2P offerings, can they? That was the point of this post, or did you not read it?
The fact of the matter is that they have chosen to sell it and make a decent living.
No, they have chosen to *try* to sell it and to *try* to make a decent living. We all have the right to try, but success or failure is determined by the market. And no one is trying to limit the market.
They have a right to make a better living than the rest of us because they have an uncommon ability to create art.
Wow. That makes absolutely no sense at all.
If it's for sale and you want to own a piece of it. Buy it. If you can't buy it, tough shit.
Fair enough.
That's how the market works.
Um... no. A market DOES NOT WORK by having a gov't set up a monopoly on a product, and telling one supplier it's the only one who can sell it.
A market DOES NOT WORK when an ISP is told by the gov't that it needs to block a site despite tons of legal things that are shared via that site.
If everything was free in this world we would have no way of keeping a productive and intelligent society. We'd be no better off than the worse economies of the world where nobody gives a shit about any laws in place. Slippery slope, I know. But a comparison nonetheless.
Dude, if you want to complain about what we write, at least complain about what we write. Don't make up something ridiculous like "everything in the world should be free." We've said no such thing.
You seem to totally misunderstand what I have written. I'll take the blame and say it's my fault, but I have never said that piracy was ok. I have never said everything in the world should be free. You seem to ascribe to me beliefs I do not have.
Hell, this post wasn't about anything you wrote in your comment.
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What are you referring to, the legislature?
bah-dum-ching!
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/a dane
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Adam
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Of course the government can...
This includes blocking the access to illegal material. EVEN if a bit of legal material will be blocked too.
And frankly, how much of TPB's stuff is legal?
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