Best Rebuttal Ever to the Three-Strike Internet Laws

Just a short post to point out the brilliance of Ed Felten’s satiric proposal that France should extend its online three-strike law to the world of print:

My proposed system is simplicity itself. The government sets up a registry of accused infringers. Anybody can send a complaint to the registry, asserting that someone is infringing their copyright in the print medium. If the government registry receives three complaints about a person, that person is banned for a year from using print.

As in the Internet case, the ban applies to both reading and writing, and to all uses of print, including informal ones. In short, a banned person may not write or read anything for a year.

If you haven’t been following this issue, France is on its way to signing a bill into law that would require ISP’s to ban people from the internet for one year if they are accused of downloading copyrighted content more than three times.  Yes, accused of downloading, not convicted of it.

Read the whole post here.

MPAA Claims Piracy Supports Terrorism and Other Fantasies

There is a new report out sponsored by the MPAA that claims that there is a significant link between film piracy and terrorism and that terrorist groups fund efforts via piracy.

TorrentFreak does a great job debunking this study. The biggest problem they find is that “piracy” is lumped in with “counterfeiting” and they are just not the same thing:

‘Piracy’ in this context tends to refer mostly to digitally representable items, while counterfeit goods can run the gamut from aircraft parts, to cigarettes. In France, you can’t sell certain brands of handbag on eBay easily, because they might be counterfeit. Fake aircraft parts (which don’t meet specs) are a major problem for the airline industry (also counterfeiting) and fake cigarettes are a commonly seized item at international borders. If you want another example, just look no further than your spam folder – count the number of Viagra, and other medications you are offered – all counterfeit.

It is also disheartening to see that the movie industry would still rather fund reactionary, one-sided studies that support their mythical claims than to help develop new business models that will allow them to compete and flourish in the digital age.

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• Sources: AT&T;, Comcast likely to help RIAA foil piracy (news.cnet.com)
• If Piracy Is Destroying The Movie Business, Why Is The Box Office Surging? (techdirt.com)

UK Backs Away from Over-Reaching Anti-Piracy Legislation

In a rare sign of government siding with users instead of big media, the UK has indicated that it will not be policing ISPs and their users in what has been called a “three-strikes-and-your-out” policy:

There had been mounting speculation about government legislation on the issue as the music industry steps up its fight against the pirates. Other countries, such as France, have supported tough action on file-sharers, who the industry claims cost them dear. But Mr Lammy said legislation would be too complex. “We can’t have a system where we’re talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms,” he told The Times newspaper.

One hopes that other countries take notice and think long and hard before taking on “pirates” in an attempt to save a misguided and floundering music industry.

(via)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Isle of Man Plans Unlimited Music Downloads (nytimes.com)
• ISPs will not be forced to disconnect users who illegally download music (telegraph.co.uk)
• No ‘3 Strikes’ Disconnection for UK Pirates (torrentfreak.com)
• Government web piracy regulation ‘could damage the music industry’ (telegraph.co.uk)

Sarkozy et L’Internet = Faillir

The AFP is reporting that the French internets are aflame with dissent after word got out about Prime Minister Sarkozy’s latest hire:

“Sarkozy’s little cop,” “Sarkozy’s eye on the net,” and “KGB Web” are some of the comments and videos posted since Nicolas Princen on Monday joined the president’s communications team as an Internet advisor at the Elysee palace.

He is “in charge of monitoring what is circulating on the Web about the president of the republic: blogs, news sites, videos … just as one might do for a traditional press review,” explained an advisor at the Elysee.”

While you can bet that our government has devoted more than a single 24-year-old monitoring what’s being said about our president, it is interesting to see how the French government has decided to try and confront the mounting negative sentiments towards Sarkozy.

Of course, as the article points out:

“Olivier Monnot, of the www.blogonautes.fr site that monitors French blogs, said “the irony is that Nicolas Princen is in charge of monitoring the ‘buzz’ about Sarkozy and he finds himself at the centre of ‘buzz.’”

Gee, couldn’t see that one coming.