UK Consumers To Pay For Online Piracy
Wowsers writes "An article in The Times states that UK consumers will be hit with an estimated £500m ($800m US) bill to tackle online piracy. The record and film industries have managed to convince the government to get consumers to pay for their perceived losses. Meanwhile they have refused to move with the times, and change their business models. Other businesses have adapted and been successful, but the film and record industries refuse to do so. Surely they should not add another stealth tax to all consumers."
As much as im against RIAA, i must say that this is the right move to do. Piracy is theft, and matters of law enforcement are the governments job, not the private companies.
Meanwhile in Asia where I live (and where most of the piracy happens) I happily download as much as I want. Thanks for subsidizing me UK citizens!
This is only important to the UK government because the they don't have any industry left. Everything in the UK is service based so without patents, copyright, etc they'd be a pathetic nation of unemployed losers who are too snobby to take lower class jobs. oh wait!
I'm laughing here at how true this is.
Or we could label it as a bailout. Y'know. The more US of A feel to it.
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."
Reveling in schadenfreude does no one any good. As an American, I'm truely saddened at what's happening in other nations. They can equally say the same about us too, and rightfully so. Such actions should be universally condemned.
are you seriously trying to compare this to the holocaust? You are a cretin