Slashdot Mirror
EU Weighs Copyright Law
Braedley writes "Some members of the European IT industry are unhappy with a proposed law that would penalize various parties, from software companies to ISPs, to even some hardware manufactures, but not the end users for infringing on intellectual property. Penalties for this aiding and abetting could include jail time for employees if found guilty."
Historically, prohibiting use of something does little to stop its use. In order to actually do something about it, you need to go after the supply.
Of course, what the bill totally ignores is that there is no technological solution. You can disguise your copyright infringement as any kind of other activity you like.
As such, there is no way for ISPs to prevent their systems being used for copyright infringement but to prevent all use, thus destroying the internet. Or at least, the ability of residents of nations adopting an idiot law like that one to access it.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
But the UK is all metric system, so everything looks heavier on paper.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
We need to get back to the system where copyright infringement is a civil matter and not a criminal matter. Then if the "pirates" are bad enough, the companies can sue them in civil court and quit suppressing our freedoms for the sake of their profits and then we can stop footing the bill to protect their corporate interests.
It's only paranoia if your wrong...
Well, at least they are not focused on penalizing the end users...
Realistically however, theres only so much one can do. If ISP's start policing the nets more, it just means that the filetraders will resort to shadier and more secure methods of transport. The content distributors will rely more heavily on botnets and compromised webservers to hold the information, and we will see a higher prevalence of strongly encrypted darkets like WASTE for getting the information around.
If anything, people will go underground with sneakernet.
And how dare we hold hardware manufacturers accountable? Copying of information is just an inherent property of the technology. Writing implements can be used to copy written works, do we hold pencil manufacturers accountable? If sneakernet becomes the norm, do we hold ipods and portable hard drives the culprit?
Give it up. Filetrading is here to stay, regardless of what prohibitions the governments place on it.
for sale
I'm a self-modifying sig virus
All the talk about rich corporations out to squeeze the last dime from the consumer is just a smoke screen. What it comes down to is can people rely on patents, trademarks and copyrights for a livelihood.
Then why aren't these individuals pushing for change rather than the corporations? It is pretty clear that corporations want to use the law by any means needed to increase their profit margin. That is what they pay their legal experts and lobbyists to do.
To think otherwise is absurd.
Personally, I think you would be hard pressed to find a person who makes their livelihood based solely on intellectual property (in fact of the three you mention I would be shocked if an individual made a living on nothing but trademarks *coughs*).
In order to make a living, the artist or scientist often bring their materials to market often requiring them to give up their rights and hand them over to larger entities which makes the argument a moot point.
Often times these persons have to do secondary work (as in provide services) such as either live performances or perhaps technical troubleshooting service in the case of the patent in order to really make their end's meat.
The only people who really make a complete living off of intellectual property are of course corporations (and of course say... IP lawyers who didn't come up with the material themselves) and have a desire to appease shareholders so they maximize profits by paying their employees to do their best to change no only their company but consumers and of course law.
Like it or not... That is how things are really done. We could ban lobbying but that wouldn't really solve the core of the problem with the debate.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
That doesn't mean I go out and copy everything I can off of P2P networks, I'm just saying I don't feel much outrage when other people do so - quite the opposite. I think if the government (the US government in my case) wanted to regain my respect for copyright law, they should:
- Enact more reasonable copyright laws (this might mean leaving TRIPS).
- Reduce penalties for infringement that isn't for commercial gain, but shut down the guys that are, for instance, making a living selling anime bootlegs from China on Ebay.
and content owners need to- Reduce their prices.
- Cater more to the "heavy tail" consumers.
- Stop trying to control what we do with the stuff they sell us (DRM).
The most likely way I see that these last three are going to come about is that new companies that actually want to sell the products that people want will replace the ones that don't. Some government action may be necessary to break up monopolies, I don't really understand the industry well enough to know if market forces are enough.IIRC, this particular legislation would, according to the masterplan, be about 2 or 3 years ahead of schedule.
The EU is a very sinister machine. Power resides in the hands of the Council 100%. The Council proposes legislation, and submits them to the European Parliament for rubber-stamping. In most cases, the MEPs haven't read the legislation they're voting on (this isn't a piece of Slashdot bull - this is really the truth) and wouldn't be able to understand it anyway. They are there because it's a very easy way to get fat without doing anything. The European Parliament can send a piece of legislation back to the Council for amendment (and the Council usually just makes superficial changes), but the second time around it goes through (different rules regarding the majority).
Make no mistake: the Council itself is a puppet of the G6, the Carlyle Group and other secretive friends. It's been decided the internet (in the form it is in right now) has to go down. The Council has to formulate a 5/10 year plan and direct national governments and the EU about what they have to do.