Europe pushing for ISPs to police copyright infringements
The European Commission wants internet service providers (ISPs) to help fight the battle against online copyright theft according to a confidential document from April seen by Reuters. The document suggests that getting to the problem at its source should help create a more effective policy.
"The Commission will propose amendments to the (IPR) Enforcement Directive in order to create a framework allowing, in particular, combating infringements of IPRs via the internet more effectively.
These amendments should tackle the infringements at their source and, to that end, foster cooperation of intermediaries, such as internet service providers."
Confidential European Commission Document
Of course, many countries already have policies in place which require co-operation from ISPs. In the UK, legislation has been put in place such that ISPs will have to send 'copyright infringement notices' out to customers who have been identified as taking part in unlawful file sharing activities and will also have to pay 25% of the costs of this process and an appeals structure that has been set out by Ofcom.
Similar laws have been in place in France through an anti-piracy agency known as HADOPI. Around 5000 letters are sent out per day to suspected file-sharers by the agency but a survey by the French government of 1500 people indicated that only 3.5% of users had stopped using file-sharing whilst 1.5% had cut back. One wonders therefore how successful the system actually is.
Comments
copyright is 70 + death of owner....
.... actually more complicated than that - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright_length
Down with the EU!
I am loathed to accept petty regulation that will simply line the pockets of lawyers and increase operating costs for ISPs. Legislation of this nature fails miserably to address the cause. I also don't understand why some people think it's ok to steal the fruits of somebody else's work, no matter how wealthy we think they are. And if we really want to avoid legislation like this, well, we know what to do and how to behave.
More E.U interference what do Brussels know, another reason to vote for the uk to leave the EU,And should they ever stop so called copyright infringement, then believe it or not would be bad for the isp's as customer bases would decrease rapidly,
no need for your fiber roll out then,
@bosie
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Sharing is theft.
The entertainment industries have to blame something for fact they are churning out rubbish that no one wants to buy, they have lost their creative ability's and it really shows.
It would be incredibly fast, cheap and easy to simply block the ip addresses of download sites, p2p, torrent trackers and proxies, but they wont because that will not generate any revenue.
I have always maintained that copyright should last no more than 10 years - No one should be earning from work undertaken many years ago.
LOL @ lame pirate argument "churning out rubbish that no one wants to buy" yet you're still hell bent on stealing it.
@herdwick
So copying is stealing now?
[email protected]@herdwick?
so when i invite friends around for drinks i need to inform them that by doing so they will be charable for THEFT coz i listen to music & so sharing it with them!!!
serious this is all one HUGE MONEY MAKING OUTFIT BECAUSE CLEARLY WE ALL WANT THE MUSIC WE FREEKIN BUY TO BE LISTENABLE IN ANY WAY WE SEE FIT
if you really truthfully think that sharing music is theft GO BUY SOME EAR DEFENDERS because YOU ALL regularly STEAL MUSIC
MPAA/RIAA and their friends need to pull their heads out of the sands and STOP justifying a law designed to STOP printed music & automatic piano's
lol t0m5k1, if the media you are enjoying amongst friends is obtained legitimately there can be no complaint. Unfortunately the idiots who want to perpetrate these laws are given impetus by those who choose to steal it and by those who choose to make it available for download indiscriminately. There is a world of difference between that and personal use as I'm sure you know.
@bosie
It isn't theft.
Otester, whatever people are doing and their reasons for doing it might not all be intentional theft. I would love to see the effect on file shares if the industry stupid would adapt to satisfy modern demands. Unfortunately, leaving things as they are will continue to encourage theft by allowing people with no intention of contributing to feel justified in their taking without ever giving. It's a bitter irony, I will agree.
@bosie
By definition it is not theft, hence you have the terms COPYright and file SHARING.
I really don't mind how anyone would want to define it Otester, I'm not particularly interested in the technicality. I'm bothered that if left unchecked, the effects of file sharing in its current form could damage where we actually want to be, especially if an ass becomes law.
@bosie
File sharing needs no justification.
To enforce IPR you must violate freedoms.
50 years is way too excessive. Copyright in my view should be 5-10 years max and only enforceable when loss of earnings is proven, ie. cannot be used to control distribution if content isnt for sale.
Ladies and gentlemen – lets try to keep some perspective here.
1 – Copyright laws are what they are. Trying to change them to fix broadband download issues is like trying to make your car go slower because your brakes don’t work very well. If you want to start a campaign to change the copyright laws then great, but don’t do it here (and don’t expect much success.)
2 – Let’s get the basic terminology straight – it’s not that hard. Copying stuff you have permission to copy is fine. Copying stuff you don’t have permission to copy is illegal and infringes the rights of those who own the copy, known as the copy-rights. Duh.
3 – Normally, if you pay for something you will have the right to make copies for your own personal use. Giving these away is normally not allowed, unless the copyright owner has given you permission to do so. Given the latter is what we are talking about here, copying in this context is theft. No doubt. Sorry otester.
4 – Listening to music and playing music to you friends is not an infringement, unless your friends are recording it (i.e. making a copy. Duh again.) That line of argument is a bit dumb and takes the topic off thread. Sorry again, otester.
cont.
5 – Finally, let’s get to grips with the scale of the problem. We are not talking about the odd recording of an old Beatles track being ‘stolen’ through illegal recording. At the most extreme, we are talking about full length HD feature films that have cost millions to make being available to download freely within days of being released. And millions of people round the world doing it regularly. Some of these down-loaders are then making copies and selling these on through semi-legitimate channels.
cont.
6 - I know people who boast about having over 500 films in electronic format that they have not paid a penny for. How can that be right?
7 – I would argue that it is not in our collective interests to erode the income stream and hence quality of the entertainment industry. And before anyone gets hot under the collar, whether we think it is good quality and a fair price is not at issue here – that is what the free market is for. All I am suggesting is that we keep the market safe so that it can work.
cont.
8 – So, finally to the question. Should we expect ISPs to block access to sites offering illegal content or should we expect the consumer to behave responsibly?
cont.
One runs the risk of losing freedom of publication (who police's the policeman?) and the other clearly isn’t working. And writing stiff letters to those downloading illegal content isn’t working, either. The illegally distributed content originates offshore so the law-breaking publishers are largely out of reach. I suspect a few high profile arrests and fines for worst offenders would shake things up but no-one really has the stomach for that.
cont.
So asking ISPs to block access to the most obvious sites is probably the best of a bad lot at this moment in time. But freedom of the internet might be the long-term price. Shame.
@Infinityandbeyond
Your context does not meet the definition of theft.
IPR infringes on freedom, if you like the idea of tyranny then there is little more to say...
This really makes no difference anyway, modern movies are not worth watching and music has been dead for years.
As for freedom, the United Kingdom was never free.
So we can't download a load of crap media, boo hoo.
@Tox-Laximus
Stop trying to excuse your laziness with your lame justifications.
Policing should be conducted by, well, the police not private ISPs.
Who cares there's always another way to go around and get what you want they can't stop us sharing. I Will continue to download MT music online, download new and old movies online, and continue watching premium sport online for free there's always a way we are the 2.0 generation we own the net not government's who just want to controls our asses.
m101dream, stop for a moment and consider the consequences of always taking a free ride. The content mostly exists because it makes a profit. Take that away and eventually we won't have any content worth accessing. Your 2.0 generation could find itself living through very dull times, and ironically with regulation brought about by your own kind. The best way to prevent this legislation is to fight smart - share it amongst family & friends, just not the whole world.
@bosie, Infinityandbeyond - actually, under current UK IP law, sharing with friends or making copies for personal use is NOT legal either - how quickly we forget the long battle we went through just to establish that ripping CDs (aka format shifting) is fair use, and UK law still technically hasn't been updated to reflect this. The US has formal "fair use" provisions – which *only* came about due to widespread flouting of the old rules – but not the UK (AFAIAA).
Those bleating about depriving artists of their income need to educate themselves about how musicians make their living: the majority make no money from music sales - the piddly share (around 13%) that goes to the band, their producers and manager is also kept by the label to pay off the famous mega-inflated advance.
Where artists *do* make money is from touring + merchandise. Those *only benefit* from fans sharing the artist's music as far and wide as possible - it's free promotion for the artist and increases their fame and influence.
It's our natural reaction to hearing something creative - we want to share it with the world; it's only recent commercial measures that have made this a taboo.
Prior to the advent of recorded music and copyright, there was by no means a shortage of artists - they just made their money in a different way: commissions, live performances and sponsorship. That is absolutely a viable model in the future, with the side benefit that society can freely share and promote the best creative works and the abysmal, formerly marketing driven, ones fall by the wayside.
Here's a moral test case: you hear a great track by a little known artist and want to bring them to your friends' attention. You search on YouTube for 1 of their tracks and post to your wall. A number of your friends are wowed by this new artist and go on to tell their own friends, see them live and perhaps buy an album or two direct from the artist's website to show their support.
By doing the above, you breached current copyright legislation by sharing an unauthorised recording. But I - and many thousands of free thinking others - would argue that you have benefited not hurt that artist.
Sure, the music industry middlemen and their plastic disc pushing, marketing spewing ilk lose out. But they could be gone tomorrow and musicians would continue to create just the same as they always did.
Even ignoring all this though – I have no respect for anyone that thinks the commercial interests of these buggy whip salesmen should trump freedom from censorship on the internet. What, you think once governments around the EU (or even individual ISPs) have the ability to censor file sharing websites that they’ll stop there?
How about opposite campaigners criticising the government de jour? China and the Middle East uprising countries, anyone? We have all the examples we need of how this sort of censorship can and will be abused.
Sorry for the long post - it grinds on me that industry apologists use "stealing" labels to try to demonise music fans, whilst pushing for censorship that is harmful to society.
Simple, if partial solution - record what you want from radio all over the world, and if you have a twin deck tape, re-record it as I can do, (but don't bother) on my Sony radio. Ironic that one of the major copyright complainers supplies anyone with the means to record and copy music legally and without charge.
.. when they're not installing rootkits with their CDs, eh? ;) Sony are hardly champions of consumer freedoms - and the influence of their music division is what toppled them from the helm of the portable audio market.
@psdie agreed. This kind of sharing is where the law falls foul and we should continue to resist it. The types of people we need to worry about are those who don't want to pay for anything, the takers who have no intention of rewarding anyone but themselves. These people will bring about more authoritarian controls that all of us will find difficult to avoid.
Copyright lasts for 50 years, so over the next decade all the music recorded in the 60s will become copyright free.