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Lord Lucas Says Record Companies "Blackmail" Users

Posted by timothy on from the lord-timothy-yields-his-time dept.

Kijori writes "Lord Lucas, a member of the UK House of Lords, has accused record companies of blackmailing internet users by accusing people of copyright infringement who have no way to defend themselves. 'You can get away with asking for £500 or £1,000 and be paid on most occasions without any effort having to be made to really establish guilt. It is straightforward legal blackmail.' The issue is that there is no way for people to prove their innocence, since the record company's data is held to be conclusive proof, and home networking equipment does not log who is downloading what. Hopefully, at the very least, the fact that parliament has realised this fact will mean that copyright laws will get a little more sane."

9 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. To which Lord Vader of the RIAA replied, by sqrt(2) · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find your lack of faith disturbing.

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    If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
    1. Re:To which Lord Vader of the RIAA replied, by Soldats · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh good so I'm not the only one who thought George Lucas when I read that headline.
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      right?
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      guys?

    2. Re:To which Lord Vader of the RIAA replied, by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sorry, we already have Sith Lord in parliament

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    3. Re:To which Lord Vader of the RIAA replied, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Did you mean Jeff Vader?

  2. Grrr....mind trick by whovian · · Score: 4, Funny

    This wasn't the Lucas I was looking for.

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  3. It is spreading.... by Asadullah+Ahmad · · Score: 2, Funny

    The sanity is finally spreading, which started from Australia. A few more of similar statements from Government officials, or even some cases appearing in media where customers were blackmailed like this, and users might not be bullied any more just because they use Internet.

  4. Re:Lord Lucas by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thats not the lord you are looking for.

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    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  5. Re:sane copyright laws? by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you follow my sig, it would be something like this:

    RANDOMIZE TIMER
    copyrightsanity% = INT(RND * 255) + 1
    IF copyrightsanity% = 0 THEN copyrightissane = 1: ELSE wereallfucked$ = "very yes"

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    -I only code in BASIC.-
  6. Re:Finally, someone gets it. by dryeo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course the article is about the UK where the King James version of the bible is still under copyright.

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