Film and Real TV Producers against File Sharing
pp2pnet news view TV | Movies:- Is a new Hollywood-inspired anti-P2P group emerging in England? And if so, will it be called FaRTPaFS (Film and Real TV Producers against File Sharing)?
In a letter to British bastion of right thinking The Times (aka Times Online), “Sir, We are a group of UK film and TV producers, directors and writers who have made some of the UK’s most innovative and distinctive moving pictures and television programming,” says a group of movie and TV producers modestly.
“Our output entertains millions of people, employs tens of thousands in the UK’s creative sector, attracts foreign direct investment, wins awards and creates billions in revenue,” they say.
Well gosh, guys, Thanks! Although somehow, they neglect to mention you, without whom they’d be nothing.
But wait! No! They do mention you!
“We are very concerned that the successes of the creative industries in the UK are being undermined by the illegal online file-sharing of film and TV content,” they say in their Dear Sir, going on »»»
At a time when so many jobs are being lost in the wider economy, it is especially important that this issue be taken seriously by the Government and that it devotes the resources necessary to enforce the law.
In 2007, an estimated 98 million illegal downloads and streams of films took place in the UK, while it is believed that more than six million people illegally file-share regularly. In relation to illegal downloads of TV programmes, the UK is the world leader, with up to 25 per cent of all online TV piracy taking place in the UK. Popular shows are downloaded illegally hundreds of thousands of times per episode.
We are asking the Government to show its support by ensuring that internet service providers play their part in tackling this huge problem.
The creative economy — of which film and television is part — comprises 7 per cent of the total economy, and is growing faster than any other sector. This is partly due to the ability of film and TV producers and their sponsors to continue contributing to the economy, creating jobs, generating tax revenue, and securing a return on the investments they make — all of which is now threatened by the widespread availability of illegal, free content.
Internet service providers have the ability to change the behaviour of those customers who illegally distribute content online. They have the power to make significant change and to prevent their infrastructure from being used on a wholesale scale for illegal activity. If they are not prepared to act responsibly, they should be compelled to do so.
Feature film and television swapping
Hmmm. Wonder how many of he signees were at the recent pep-talk organised by FARCE (sorry, FACT) and Warner Brothers Entertainment, Europe?
In a post on the rally, “When it comes to file sharing, BitTorrent is The One,” we said, continuing »»»
What we see in June of 2008 (compared to a year earlier) is that the P2P user base overall is static, neither up nor down, statistically, BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland tells p2pnet.
But, if you look at BitTorrent separately from the rest of the P2P , you find that the BitTorrent base has grown dramatically (by 17.5% y-o-y) while the rest of the P2P applications have declined as a group by 9%, he says.
This suggests the growth in P2P activity, including the huge surges in P2P traffic volumes, is generally attributable to the increased popularity of feature film and television swapping, says Garland.
BitTorrent is also important to the movie industry, which tried to muzzle it by taking it over.
Could it be the technically challenged executives who run Hollywood were, and still are, under the delusion afflicting most corporate media outlets: that BT is a network rather than a protocol?
True or not, BT in its non-corporate form is still very much alive and well and in use with the P2P filesharing fraternity.
Together with the various indexing sites such as The Pirate Bay, Mininova and isoHunt, it`s largely responsible for the devastation that`s wreaking havoc with the profits of Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, they assert, at the same time reporting record eye-popping, mind-boggling revenues.
“Those in the performing arts are just the same as footballers, immensely talented but grossly overpaid,” says Terence Hollingworth in a comment post, adding:
“It is infinitely more important that the internet continues to allow free and uncensored exchange rather than subject it to the spin and deceit which pervades most of our daily lives.”
Anyhow, so who are the movie and TV folks who fear their brilliance may soon no longer be available to the Thirsting Masses, and many of whom are legends only in their own minds?
Says Times Online:
Sir Alan Parker, Ken Loach, Kenneth Branagh, Mike Leigh, Nick Hytner, Richard Curtis, Richard Eyre, Terry Jones, Jon Thoday, Howard Brenton, Peter Bennet-Jones, Robert Fox, Lynda La Plante, Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald, Ann Skinner, Barnaby Thompson, Bharat Nalluri, Caroline Hewitt, Charlie Higson, Damian Jones, David Heyman, Duncan Kenworthy, Giles McKinnon, Graham Broadbent, Guard Brothers (Tom and Charlie), Hilary Bevan Jones, Iain Softley, Jim Sheridan, Joe Burn, John Madden, John Maybury, Jonathan Cavendish, Justin Chadwick, Liz Karlsen, Lloyd Levin, Luc Roeg, Lynne Ramsay, Marc Samuelson, Mark Huffam, Mark Mylod, Mary Richards, Michael Kuhn, Nicky Kentish Barnes, Paul Berrow, Pail McGuigan, Paul Webster, Paul Welland, Richard Jobson, Robert Jones, Robyn Slovo, Roger Michell. Rupert Sanders, Rupert Wyatt, Sarah Radclyffe, Simon Bosanquet, Simon Channing-Williams, Simon Curtis, Simon Mcburney, Simon Relph, Stephen Daldry, Stephen Woolley, Susanna White, Tristram Shapeero, John Willis, David Aukin, Jon Thoday, David Sproxton, Murray Ferguson, Nicola Schindler, Jonny Persey, Andrew O`Connor, Andre Singer, David Strachen, Magnus Temple, Jed Mercurioo, Waldemar Januszczak, Jon Blair, Peter Berry, Ashley Pharoah, Matthew Graham, Ben Richards, Simon Beaufoy, Steve Morrison, Paul Smith, David Frank, Eileen Gallagher, Jimmy Mulville, Charles Wace, Roy Ackerman, Alison Rayson, Tim Haines, Jasper James, Daisy Goodwin, Alex Graham, Gareth Neame, Addison Creswell, Andy Harries, Mike Watts, Lucinda Whiteley, Malcolm Brinkworth, David Smith, William Burdett-Coutts, Tony Jordan, Sebastian Scott, Phil Morrow, Michael Waldman, Simon Nye, Frank Deasey, Peter Morgan, Bill Nicholson, Abi Morgan, Charlie Parsons, Peter Moffat and Simon Moore
No need to stay tuned.
The Times – Downloads undermine UK television and film, December 16, 2008
pep-talk organised by FARCE – YouTube, Hulu, top illegal host sites: Warner Bros, November 16, 2008
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!
Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Fartpafs. I like it
December 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Either they don’t know what “retirement savings” mean or they are too greedy or both.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
nice list get the shoes ready
December 16th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Oh dear, a bunch of nobodies… I watch less and less of regular british tv these days, except for the occasional bbc show through their website. Old television broadcasting as we know it is a dead donkey.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I don’t believe that some of these people actually signed this stupidity. Working-class director Ken Loach now hunting down his own audience, for instance? BBC-shitworkers against the people who pay them? Like haha funny says: get the shoes ready – for the “Sir” editors of the Times