ISP Ordered to block access to web site...in the UK

[Arrghus]

From the Guardian website:

Vince Cable: government plans to block illegal filesharing sites unworkable
Business secretary to intervene in Digital Economy Act debate in speech and expected to overhaul restrictive rules on file copying

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...ns-filesharing

I'm glad there are at least some sensible people who have some semblance of influence and power left in the British government.

[anamardoll]

@nonanon,

I have been known to listen to songs on YouTube before deciding whether or not to buy them. Mea culpa.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Arrghus

From the Guardian website:

Vince Cable: government plans to block illegal filesharing sites unworkable
Business secretary to intervene in Digital Economy Act debate in speech and expected to overhaul restrictive rules on file copying

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...ns-filesharing

I'm glad there are at least some sensible people who have some semblance of influence and power left in the British government.

Where was he during the discussion stage, where all the faults are supposed to be ironed out before the law is passed? In the bar with all the other MPs getting free drinks from the BPI?

One of the Liberal manifesto promises at the election was to repeal that law so that it can be looked at properly. That will almost certainly be why a lot of new people voted for them this time around.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

One of the Liberal manifesto promises at the election was to repeal that law so that it can be looked at properly. That will almost certainly be why a lot of new people voted for them this time around.

The Liberal Democrats lost seats at the last general election and have been going backwards ever since. Is that because they promised to repeal the Digital Economy Bill do you think?

[nonanon]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

if you go to amovie theater and you hate the movie, you can choose to walk out and ask fo ryou money back. i have done it . people do it all the time.

borrowing from a library is not pirating. borrowing from a library and making a copy to keep, or mulitple copies to give away, before returning the original is pirating.

As to your first point, it depends on the movie theater and how early you make the call to leave. Besides, they won't refund the price of your concession items which is often more than the cost of your ticket. Unless you want to end your evening early or can find another movie that fits your plans you're out of luck there.

In the old days you had to buy an entire album or CD to get the worthwhile song (or two) that was on it. Now you just buy the tracks you like which is no doubt playing havoc with the RIAA's bottom lines since unwanted Side B material won't be purchased.

For your second point, I guess I forgot to add /sarc. In the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA any unpaid use of their copyrighted material is infringement. They haven't gotten around to libraries yet but it's no longer impossible to imagine that they'll try to force this point someday.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by TGS

The Liberal Democrats lost seats at the last general election and have been going backwards ever since. Is that because they promised to repeal the Digital Economy Bill do you think?

I don't know, but they came behind the British Nazi Party round here in the last local election, which suggests a lot of people switched their vote when they found out it was just a lie.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by nonanon

In the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA any unpaid use of their copyrighted material is infringement. They haven't gotten around to libraries yet but it's no longer impossible to imagine that they'll try to force this point someday.

Certainly not so in the UK... libraries purchase their books and other media and we have something called Public Lending Right which means that authors get a small sum every time a book is borrowed (up to a given ceiling) and there is no copyright infringement involved... maybe different in newer countries like the US...

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by nonanon

I confess so haul me away. In the 80s I used my VCR to record movies and tv shows without paying the copyright holder. Even before that I used cassettes to record music from the radio without making any payment.

This is not illegal in the US; format shifting has been allowed for more than 30 years - i.e., pretty much since consumer vcrs became available.

The only differences between that piracy and what occurs today is that the copies are much better because of much better tech. If I liked the movie or tv show, I bought it on VHS, the same with music, first on LPs, then on cassette, then on CD and now digital copies.

The difference today is the internet, not the media. If I copy a cassette tape, I can share the copy with one friend at a time. And he can share it with one friend at a time, etc. If I make a digital copy of music, I can share it with millions of people, almost instantly. And all of those people can share it with millions of people. That's the difference.
[quote]


[snip]

As for books, am I a pirate if I buy a used book? The author gets no money from the resell so isn't that piracy too?

Not in the US. Google right of first sale.

The greater threat to "creative types" is the biggest source of piracy ever known - the public library, where I first committed piracy back in the 60s. Reading books without paying for them, checking out magazines and later CDs and movies, all for free. If I liked it back then I spent my hard-earned allowance and bought it. Some things never change. The music industry feared LPs would ruin concert ticket sales and they've been wrong ever since.

Library books have already been bought. See right of first sale.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Certainly not so in the UK... libraries purchase their books and other media and we have something called Public Lending Right which means that authors get a small sum every time a book is borrowed (up to a given ceiling) and there is no copyright infringement involved... maybe different in newer countries like the US...

*British* authors get a small sum. Foreign authors are not eligible.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

*British* authors get a small sum. Foreign authors are not eligible.

Actually applies to any author resident in the EC plus Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein... hey, if you think that's Britain, fine by me but you might irritate a few others...

[mr ploppy]

[QUOTE=Andrew H.;1688688]
The difference today is the internet, not the media. If I copy a cassette tape, I can share the copy with one friend at a time. And he can share it with one friend at a time, etc. If I make a digital copy of music, I can share it with millions of people, almost instantly. And all of those people can share it with millions of people. That's the difference.

The difference being one of speed of distribution, not how many people end up with it. Cassette culture thrived long before the internet came along. Home taping didn't kill music, and neither will the internet. The only real difference now is it is easier to see how widespread it is.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I don't know, but they came behind the British Nazi Party round here in the last local election, which suggests a lot of people switched their vote when they found out it was just a lie.

It suggests nothing of the sort. Yes, many people "went off" the Lib Dems when it became clear they had reneged on pre-election undertakings, but not undertakings about the digital economy bill, about which most folk don't give a monkey's.