The French Government today passed a law giving them powers to ban people from the internet as a penalty for file sharing.
It seems that for every step forwards we take, we end up taking at least two back.
The music industry today scored big points in France as a new law was passed which will have a dramatic impact on France’s online population. The new legislation will lead to the formation of a new government body which will operate a three strike rule, allowing the banning of users from the internet for a year if they repeatedly use file sharing services.
Previously, the bill had been voted down by the French government, but with the backing of Sarkozy (a pathetic wretch of a man), France’s president, the bill has now gone through.
I wrote in a previous article (hyperlinked in the above paragraph), about how the punishment of people for committing piracy specifically via the use of the internet was a stupid idea. Why not prosecute and punish pirates for… well… piracy?
I would urge anyone in France reading this to fight back. Write to your representative, refuse to buy music until the price is acceptable, anything. Piracy is, as anyone who has done any research knows the symptom of a problem created by the entertainment industry.
There are other issues with this bill too. Users behind a router sharing a network can appear online as having the same IP. So what happens when your buddy uses your network to torrent and you get an angry letter from the government telling you to stop or you’ll get banned? That’s now on YOUR record, not your buddies.
John Kennedy, chairman of the IFPI, which represents the global music industry, has described the bill as “an effective and proportionate way of tackling online copyright infringement and migrating users to the wide variety of legal music services in France”.
It won’t be effective. There are plenty of ways to mask your IP and avoid detection. It’s totally disproportionate. These people should be prosecuted for PIRACY. The crime is PIRACY. The means should be left to the judge to decide. And the last part simply reads to me as thus:
“F### you. We pay artists peanuts and turn massive profits by charging you through the arse for the product. It’s not enough that the only person who comes of well in this business plan is us, we want even more.”
Lets not forget that many of the big labels Still do not pay artists the full rate of royalties for legally downloaded tracks. Some don’t pay artists at all.
The music industry is the biggest rip off in the modern world. They pay artists practically bugger all, and then charge us far, far beyond a reasonable rate. For more information on this, read this article.
For the first time in decades, the music industry faces a real threat to its profits. Profits built on the most exploitative business model ever seen.
They could simply accept a big cut in profits, offer music at a reasonable price, and start paying the artists a fair share. If they did this then they may survive in some form.
Or they can fight it. If they win, it’s only a matter of time before they are opposed again. And if they loose, their business plan will collapse.
To all artists, I implore you, demand fair prices for your work. Distribute it without the use of labels! It CAN be done. It HAS been done, and when Radiohead did it, they still made a LOT of money.
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Thu, May 14, 2009, by Evis T
Web Talk