G8 Summit Aims To Kill International Piracy

arcticstoat writes "Next week, the G8 summit will discuss proposals for new international piracy laws, which include border controls and cooperation from ISPs to identify pirates. The laws will also prevent ISPs from being liable for copyright infringement. If the G8 summit were to agree on these measures and enforce them through international cooperation, could they really cut down piracy, or would they be impractical to enforce?"

Comments

What kind of pirates?

[GameboyRMH]

Data pirates or ship-hijacking pirates? Oh data pirates. You'd think they'd deal with the other type first.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[spun]

Seriously. A lot of people don't realize just how many actual ship-hijacking pirates their really are. Parts of Africa, especially near Somalia, are rife with them, as are the Straits of Malacca.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[Red Flayer]

Why is that?

Which "costs" more to the economies (read: businesses and campaign contributions) of the participating nations?

If this were a summit of PacRim & SE Asian countries, you might have a point.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[sm62704]

I don't know about your country's WTO members, but as an American I want all American WTO people tried for treason and put in front of a firing squad. And I want their companies' buildings leveled in the most hostile manner possible and their business licenses revoked.

The WTO is anti-human. They need to be stopped by fair means or foul.

It's disgusting that this comes before my country's Independance Day. My country's government is owned by foreigners and American traitors.

Sorry for the ran but this really pisses me off.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[Roger W Moore]

Sadly there are far more Data pirates than "Board ye ship" pirates.

True, but data pirates don't kill people.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[sm62704]

I am a foreigner in your country. If I visit your country I will show you and your countrymen respect. I will try to learn your language if I don't already speak it. I will NOT try to change your laws. I will NOT try to take over your industries. I will NOT try to subvert your customs.

Sadly, most people are not like that, especially those with the money to be world-travellers; those sort think they are owed anything they wish because they have always gotten everything they wanted.

"Foreigner" is not a put-down.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[someone1234]

That would be dangerous. Soldiers would get hurt, you know. It is easier to cuff some music loving geeks.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[Stellian]

Ignoring for a moment you parenthesis, I fail to see how piracy impacts the economies of other-than-US states.
When most of your software is produced abroad, and your indigenous culture sells much less than Hollywood to your own people, then why should you protect the mostly-US copyrights ?
Take for example the new French anti-piracy, 3 strikes law. It's obvious that most movies and most software (Games, Windows, Office) transferred by the pirates is of US origin. I would go even further, and say that if the pirates would no longer pay for American bits, and Americans themselves won't pay for french bits, the result would be a net win for France, lowering the import/export deficit - more money left to develop France, and less in Ballmer's account.
In this perspective, the initiative of Sarkozy strikes me as very treacherous towards the French people - why should the French government protect the US copyright more aggressive than US themselves ? Hey, I can understand a little tap on the back from the US, but Sarkozy should protect his voters from US, not herd them like cattle into paying for imports.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[a_real_bast...]

Foreign citizens owning property/companies/stuff in OUR country? Surely not!
'Course, it's not my country.
It's been the reality all over the world for years. The rest of the world has just started earning enough to be able to buy bits of you, now.

Massive civil disobedience might topple a government. It might topple several. It takes rather more to actually change the mode of government (see "Zapatistas" at your nearest search engine for evidence).


Offtopic: I've sworn fealty to nothing and no-one. I pay the government, and take advantage of the services they provide. Unfortunately, that seems to go to their heads.

Re:What kind of pirates?

[Eivind]

Are you saying that foreign investments are somehow bad ? Even if the investor very carefully follows all the rules-of-play setup by that nations government ? That makes zero sense, infact most countries (including the USA) WELCOMES investments. I have several, for example.

And I also most definitely try to change your laws. I would like you to cancel the DMCA, adopt a less agressive foreign policy, agressively push science forward on renewable energies, adopt universal healthcare, and tons and tons of other changes, small and large. I openly argue my opinion, in the hope that someone will listen. Are you saying that foreigners should refrain from having an opinion on US law, or refrain from discussing it openly ?

I, both openly and secretly work to undermine and indeed utterly destroy "customs" which I consider wrong. These include the sexual mutilation of young females, the refusal to allow adult, consenting human beings to have sex with whomever they damn well please, punishment or inacceptance of people with the wrong beliefs, and a large collection of other bullshit.

Are you saying we should refrain from having an opinion, or refrain from stating it, or refrain from DOING something when we see injustice, if that injustice is on the other side of an imaginary object named a "border" ?

What's so magical about a "border" anyway ? A "country" is a human construct. I don't see a border as carrying any moral or ethical weight. I don't see that the right thing to do if my neighbour is suffering is any different if there's a border between us or not.

I'm all with you in respecting people, though. And the learning part, not only the language, but a lot more too. It's easy to critizise what you do not understand. One should always strive to *understand* what's really going on, rather than resort to knee-jerk reactions.

I'm so happy that

[Dunbal]

Piracy is taking precedence over energy conservation, alternative energy, weapons proliferation, violent crime, inflation, commodity prices and a couple permanent wars. Hooray. Let's choose an IMPORTANT topic for this year's G8 meeting. After all, quadrillions of dollars are being lost and billions of people are put out of work every day/starve to death because little Johnny watched a Britney Spears video on Youtube!

To the world's politicians: WHAT THE FUCK??? SERIOUSLY!

Re:I'm so happy that

[hibji]

I honestly thought that the story was about real piracy, you know, the kind that captures other boats and stuff. I would think real piracy would be at least a big a problem as the other piracy.

Re:I'm so happy that

[russ1337]

To get to the voters they need money.

To get money they need donations

Large Corporations donate money. Lots of it.

Once in office, the allegiance is to the Corporation, as they provide the money to attract more votes.

Re:I'm so happy that

[TheLink]

But in event of nonDiebolded elections, voters still can vote for whoever they want.

They don't have to vote for the most well-financed candidates.

My conclusion is that most voters either
a) don't really care that much
b) actually support the status quo

Of course the "first past the post" voting system does make things tend to "two party", but if people are that pissed off they could try to get more organized and then really vote for someone different.

Are they that upset? The fact that Bush actually got reelected should give you an indication about the reality despite all the loud complainers.

The reality is as long as there's Bread and Circuses most voters don't care, the Emperors and their Senate can do whatever they want.

Now with the increasing oil prices and recession there might be a bit of a problem with the Bread and Circuses supply.

Re:I'm so happy that

[Danse]

but how about the G8 ease other side of Copyright by allowing the old stuff into public domain within a reasonable timeframe.

How would that help facilitate the continued transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the amazingly wealthy ruling class? See, you haven't thought through what you're asking for.

Typo in Title

[dynamo]

The title of this story should read: "G8 Summit Aims To Kill International Privacy".

Re:Typo in Title

[sm62704]

I think it should read "G8 Summit Aims To Kill independant music labels and film studios". I guess Star Wreck really rattled Hollywood. Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning was incrediby well done and hilarious.

"My" representatives don't even represent my country, let alone me. They represent the foreigners who own the entertainment industries.

Re:Typo in Title

[locallyunscene]

That's good, I would also accept: "G8 Summit Aims to Stop International Copyright Infringement" since they're not actually talking about piracy.

The G8 is antiquated and increasingly irrelevant

[brunes69]

The G8 used to consist of the 8 largest economies in the world. Now it is mostly just a group of good-old-boys who wish they were still relevant on the world economic stage.

The fact that none of China, India, or Brazil are included in the G8 and yet Italy and France are illustrate this perfectly.

Re:Where there's a will..

[CastrTroy]

Doesn't the other side believe the same thing? If they have a will to get rid of piracy (copyright infringement), then there is a way to get rid of it. Even if it means locking everybody in cage, and throwing away the key. There's two outcomes to this. People will eventually decide that copyright infringement isn't worth the likelihood and cost of getting caught, or there will be a revolution.

I wonder...

[clang_jangle]

...what will Big Media do if they do manage to "conquer piracy" and they still don't sell more crappy content than they do now? I know I rarely bother to "pirate" any of the crap they think is so hot, there is so much niche, antique, and "unavailable" stuff that I prefer now. Lots of it really is free on the archive, among other places.

Re:Only way to kill piracy ....

[aliquis]

And then what? Ninjas can't beat pirates.

1. Decide to put an end to piracy.
2. Hire ninjas.
3. ???
4. FAIL!

Governments have worked so well against drugs

[faloi]

There's no way they can fail to stop piracy!

Re:Best of luck, fellas!

[conark]

the government is absolutely useless. in fact, governments in general are useless these days. the only thing governments have are military power. they don't serve anyone except the special interest that keep them in power. the saddest part is that people continue to obey an invisible force dictated through fear rather than reasoning. besides, i don't see what this G8 is going to accomplish. more politicians holding hands, publicly agreeing on some non-issues and then spreading more fear and getting money from their butt buddies hiding in the shareholders' rooms. corporations are the only institutions that have any real power these days. it just depends on what side of the corporation you're on that matters.

Speeding vs. Piracy

[Anonymous Coward]

Speeding is one of the easiest crimes in the world to prosecute. Find a hiding spot and pull the trigger - POW the speeder is fined. Lets see exactly how well is that working. Same thing for drugs, prostitution, gambling etc. Now I know that no one here speeds, does drugs, hires prostitutes or gambles. Funny how effective those laws are. This one would be just as blazingly effective.

PS My image (carder) made me think of another one - underage drinking

News Flash

[Anonymous Coward]

Rich people come together to discuss ways of solving problems that annoy rich people, while ignoring those problems that are genuinely harmful to most people.

The very questionable belief that anything that is problematic for a rich person ultimately winds up harming the poor is once again offered as justification.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Re:Decided to pirate more.

[corbettw]

im making a nice living

If you're a programmer, you make a nice living thanks to the IP laws you state you despise. Just sayin'.

Should kill international identity theft first.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

If G8 wants to get involved in something financial and internet related they should start by killing off international identity theft rings.

This is a MUCH larger dollar amount than even the claims of the content conglomerates. It also hits a broader range of businesses - primarily the financial institutions, which are already in enough trouble from the housing bubble bust.

Taking down a handfull of the biggest identity theft rings would drastically cut these losses. This would do a lot to stabilize the world economy - without appreciably shifting the world power balance or hurting any particular country (unless it was acting as a safe haven for one of the rings and participating in its ill-gotten gains).