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UK File-Sharing Laws Unenforceable On Mobile Networks
superglaze writes "UK mobile broadband providers currently have no way of telling which subscribers are file-sharing which copyrighted content, ZDNet UK reports. This represents something of a problem for new laws that have been proposed to crack down on unlawful file-sharing. According to the article, databases (tracking IP address mappings) could be built to make it possible to identify what specific users are downloading, but the industry is loathe to fund this sort of project itself. Also, as an analyst points out in the piece, users of prepaid phone cards are mostly anonymous in the UK, which creates another challenge for the government's plans. And if that isn't enough, connection-sharing apps like JoikuBoost would make identification pretty much impossible anyway."
They have no way of telling which subscribers are file sharing on any network - ask your local laser printer. I guess they'll just have to make do...
"In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."
Anybody who plans on running bittorrent over a prepaid mobile connection is either going to pirate very small files, or end up paying rather more than retail for them...
Sharing your connection using Joiku with a file-sharing felon might tar you with the same brush. 3 strikes and you're all out.
Due process? We flushed that crap down the toilet years ago.
John
If the record industry wants this data, they can pay for its collection.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Outright retarded article... Mobile data fees are so expensive that this whole story it makes no sense whatsoever
I've seen plenty of slow news days here where kdawson decided to publish non-sense, but this is a new low.
Who hijacked slashdot for this "story"? Is the slashdot torrent tracker next? I guess it's not too far a stretch. Instead of 100 inane "frist post" comments they're all be converted to "Please seed" instead. Instead of flamewars about Apple, Microsoft, or Google, we can all start flames about the torrents containing viruses or whose torrent of the latest 0 dayz warez is better than whose. Welcome to the new slashdot. Not so different to the old!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
There is a book called, The Public Domain written by a professor of law from the Duke Law School. You can download an electronic version legally and for free from that link. It outlines the conflicts facing areas of creativity like the arts and sciences and explains the history of how it came to be so enclosed. It also does not pull any punches, it supports industry where deserved and advocates Citizen interests where right. It certainly is a lot better than my rants and raves when I scream: I Want My Public Domain ! Although he has more reasons to be tactful than I. Inform yourself, read the free book. I am and once I'm done I'm going to go read some Pirate Party propaganda to see if it is compatible with the good professor.
Shh.
And require all devices to be registered, with clients shimmed into your ip stack being required to access anything online. This is where it will end up. Everyone will be running something like the old netzero client .. ack.
Remember only terrorists and pirates want to be anonymous... You have nothing to hide.. do you ?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
And lose a *huge* chunk of their revenue. According to Ofcom 55% of mobile phones in the UK are pre-paid or PAYG (Look under the "Telecoms" section).
And this will stop being true for LTE (4g). Since the handset acts as a server for certain communications, it requires at least one dedicated IP address per active subscriber. Mobile File-sharing won't be a major issue until 4G proliferates anyway.
In the Netherlands (for now) it's legal to copy music to your cd's (due to levy indeed), it is also still legal to download music/movies from the internet. We can't share it online. But it is legal to borrow a cd to a friend for him to copy on a blanc cd. But after they (music-mafia) have reaped the millions and millions of euro's for many years in a time no-one uses blanc cd's for music anymore they wanted to change the rules. And they did. Lol. There is only 1 explanation for this. The lobby is paying the politicians well. It's just insane that we pay for airwaves. Before we know it we'll be paying for the right the breath that same air. I am sorry. I am upset about all these things they are trying to make illegal. It's like they want us all to be criminals. If we aren't criminals they will pass a law that will turn us into one. According to the law. It's just insane. I have no way how I can explain all of this to my kids without them looking at me and saying... but dad, I thought we won the war against the Germans. (my 9 y.o. actually said that)
Here in the UK, you don't have a right to use the mp3, even if you do own the CD.
Unless you're Lily Allen, making a "mix tape" of copyrighted material - then it's okay. Even if you fileshare it to push your own career.
Head explodes.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."