UK to adopt corporate 3 Strikes plan
p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- The clock is now ticking
In the face of massive consumer [read voters] outrage and objections not only from ISPs, but also from police and intelligence services, British politicians say they’re nonetheless determined to turn the corporate entertainment Three Strikes bidniz plan into UK law.
“People who persistently download illegal content will be cut off from the net, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has announced,” says the BBC.
The plan would have the UK government working as a taxpayer-funded Hollywood and Big Music enforcement agency with ISPs as online copyright police, acting against their own customers.
On corporate say-so, alleged file sharers would be warned twice, and then cutt off from the net — and all with any kind of due process or legal protection.
Mandelson “confirmed that it would become government policy, following months of speculation,” says the story, going on »»»
Initially Ofcom will monitor whether file-sharing is going down with the disconnection policy not brought into force until at least April 2011.
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills emphasised that there would be a “toolkit” of technical measures employed to encourage illegal file-sharers to desist.
This would include squeezing their bandwidth and imposing download caps.
By what is, we’re sure, merely a concidence, Hollywood mouthperson and MPAA boss Bob Pisano was recently in the UK to suggest traffic throttling rather than outright disconnection would be the way to go.
Pisano flew to London, “to meet Lord Puttnam, the film-maker, who is expected to be a key voice in building support for the plans,” the story adds, said Times Online.
And by a similar coincidence, Sony Music boss Michael Lynton yesterday felt it incumbent upon himself to chime in with his suport of the UK version of the entertainment industry Three Strikes marketing plan.
Campaign against music piracy
“There has been increasing pressure from the music industry to get tough on pirates,” says the Beeb, stating:
“Lily Allen has been spearheading a campaign against music piracy, with high-profile stars including Gary Barlow and James Blunt behind her.”
This refers to a recent declaration by the Featured Artists Coalition. It followed a blog rant by Lily Allen, later taken down.
The FAC stated they’d »»»
… support a three-strike sanction on those who persistently download illegal files, sanctions to consist of a warning letter, a stronger warning letter and a final sanction of the restriction of the infringer’s bandwidth to a level which would render file-sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access functional.
However, the Great Unwashed are no longer a voiceless, faceless mass. Thanks to the net, they’re bypassing traditional media and speaking directly and almost instantaneously with each other around the world, increasingly calling the shots and making the powers -that-used-to -be, political and corporate alike, pay attention.
On the FAC board as a director is artist-activist Billy Bragg who told p2pnet, “Our task now is to convince our colleagues that there is no technical solution, but this will take time.”
Not at all by coincidence, Bragg is also one of the founders of a2f2a.com (artists-to-fans-to-artists), the new site created on the heels of the FAC declaration and dedicated to putting artists and fans together under the banner, P2P users want to pay for music if they can be sure their money is going to the artists whose work they enjoy.
Also not by coincidence, FAC directors approved a motion to have members officially invited to join a2f2a discussions, said p2pnet last Thursday.
Directors include Dave Rowntree of Blur, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ed O’Brien of Radiohead, Kate Nash, Hal Ritson of The Young Punx, Howard Jones, Mark Kelly of Marillion, Sandie Shaw, Master Shortie, Lucy Pullin of The Fire Escapes, Ross Millard of The Futureheads, Fran Healy of Travis, and Annie Lennox.
Members include Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Little Boots, Badly Drawn Boy, Sia, The Boxer Rebellion, Kevin Hewick, among many others.
Stay tuned, as always.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
police and intelligence - UK cops, spy agencies, say No to 3 strikes plan, October 26, 2009
BBC – Net pirates to be ‘disconnected’, October 28, 2009
merely a concidence – MPAA boss pressures UK on 3 strikes scheme, October 26, 2009
Times Online – MI5 comes out against cutting off internet pirates, October 26, 2009
similar coincidence - Sony movie boss touts 3 strikes scheme, October 27, 2009
blog rant by Lily Allen – Lily Allen, copyright pirate, September 24, 2009
p2pnet – We are the walrus. Or, thank you Lily Allen, October 26, 2009
last Thursday - Featured Artists Coalition: tuning in to a2f2a, October 22, 2009
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October 28th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Fuck those British politicians. They can’t even pay their taxes correctly.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
“British politicians say they’re nonetheless determined to turn the corporate entertainment Three Strikes bidniz plan into UK law.”
I say do it.