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For Now, UK Online Pirates Will Get 4 Warnings -- And That's It
New submitter Tmackiller writes with an excerpt from VG247.com: The British government has decriminalised online video game, music and movie piracy, scrapping fuller punishment plans after branding them unworkable. Starting in 2015, persistent file-sharers will be sent four warning letters explaining their actions are illegal, but if the notes are ignored no further action will be taken. The scheme, named the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP), is the result of years of talks between ISPs, British politicians and the movie and music industries. The UK's biggest providers – BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky – have all signed up to VCAP, and smaller ISPs are expected to follow suit. VCAP replaces planned anti-piracy measures that included cutting users' internet connections and creating a database of file-sharers. Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music trade body the BPI, said VCAP was about "persuading the persuadable, such as parents who do not know what is going on with their net connection." He added: "VCAP is not about denying access to the internet. It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice." Officials will still work to close and stem funding to file-sharing sites, but the news appears to mean that the British authorities have abandoned legal enforcement of online media piracy. Figures recently published by Ofcom said that nearly a quarter of all UK downloads were of pirated content."
Tmackiller wants to know "Will this result in more private lawsuits against file sharers by the companies involved?"
I hope so - somebody needs to stop freetards running amok with other people's hard work
The article starts off saying that they have been decriminalised, but then the government is still calling them illegal and apparently more people might be sued over this "decriminalised" behaviour. So what exactly is the stare of the legality of pirating in Britain?
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Is this 4 warnings per ISP, per year?
It seems to me that there should be a cycle date, because users may go through different ISP's at some point, or have new friends/roommates/parents that don't give a royal **** about filesharing.
Personally I nag my parents every time I visit because I've seen all the pirated stuff they have. If it was ever available to buy or VOD, then I make the same kind of Frustrated Marge "hgrnnnmmm" noise, when the "Homer's" in my family pirate things.
If people are illegally sharing stuff, then get 4 pieces of paper, print stuff with ink, and mail it to them? Why bother wasting the ink, paper and postage to send the letters if no further actions are to be taken?
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music trade body the BPI, said VCAP was about "persuading the persuadable, such as parents who do not know what is going on with their net connection." He added: "VCAP is not about denying access to the internet. It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice."
We could not get file sharers drawn and quartered, so we are going to spin the decision that we fought kicking and screaming to our advantage and make us look better than we really are.
I came, I conquered, I coredumped
... in litigation.
In court, a person could not use the, "Gee ... I didn't know," defense.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
I hope and think that the brainwashing of the younger "freeloading" generation will fail.
It is truely disgusting to see the attempts to brainwash the people to protect vested economic interests.
The collateral damage to prevent sharing of bitstreams is just too high.
We cannot prevent this, neither with laws nor with brainwashing. Sharing is just too easy and natural.
We'll have to adapt our economic model to the new reality instead, the "new normal".
Nuff said.
Don't ever relinquish control over ANYTHING. You need to keep control over everything including your Internet. Be inventive.
How much did this cost?
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
windows, SUN or surprise to tNhe won't vote in
On the one hand, its nice that this regime is measured and not over the top. On the other hand, if I hadn't pirated anything, because my flatmates/kids/friends/neighbours had done something I didn't know about, I'd still be pissed off receiving that letter. I don't think the good people of the UK should be completely satisfied with this situation. There should be a way to push back and say, no I didn't do it, take your stinking letter back.
It's because there's no convenient way (other than pirating) to get the media you want to watch/listen to, when you want to watch/listen to it. If the media companies would make *everything* available under a subscription model (like Netflix), there would be no need to go to Pirate Bay to get it. I suspect much of what is pirated is watched once. Figure $60/yr for a VPN, or $20/mo for Netflix (which, sadly, doesn't have a tenth what's available by torrent), and the media companies could do pretty well...if they would only do it.
This sounds a lot like the "copyright alert system" that ISPs and the MPAA and RIA started 2 years ago. You get an email form your ISP when you illegally download copies of Game of Thrones on bittorrent. Or so I've been told.
"It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice."
I'm so glad they are trying to help pirates make the right choices.
BTW, which right choices are we talking about here?
Oh ya, you want those pirates to pay you more money!
Virgin needs more money right? OK, got it.
Do not treaties require the UK to be active in this?
When you use a torrent you are also sending data blocks. So even if you leach you are still "supplying" while you are downloading. This make the situation civilly more precarious and becomes criminal too.
You can't slow or stop Piracy, period, fact.
>"Will this result in more private lawsuits against file sharers by the companies involved?"
Good luck proving that an IP address == a person.
In order to reverse the tide of torrent and P2P, we have to educate people that movie and music piracy is an active form of anti-semitism. Only the most brazen few would continue, if they knew!
Hollywood movie studios are all owned by jewish investors and the overwhelming majority of directors and even the actors are ethnic jewish people. Music labels are owned by jewish investors (even though jewish people do not participate much in performing popular music, preferring classical music instead). Jewish people put their money on the line, seeking commerical success in the entertainment media market, but the goyim are stealing their produce without compensation and are damn proud about that. (Not to mention online bookscan-sharing sites, as most of the world's literature, be it scientific or romantic, is also authored by jewish people.)
Thus, torrenting is essentially an online form of Crystal Nacht where the goyim are smashing in the jewish shop's glass and take whatever they want, without compensation and the authorities will turn a blind eye. This "success" only encourages even more of the already rampant online anti-semitism. Soon there will be pogroms and endlo:sung again.
If you are not happy about being part of this disaster in progress, investigate your conscience and cease torrenting! Force your governments to respect and uphold the jewish people's right. It is not about the validity of US laws worldwide, but about respecting the rights of jewish people worldwide. Many jewish people choose to live in the USA, because the land of free enterprise allows them to fullfill inspirations. Yet, the world laughs in the face of USA and the jewish people, while enjoying the uncountable many fruits of jewish creativity, from science to tech, from art to entertainment, without ever contributing a dime. Now we have a full generation of online young people growing up, who think this situation is the norm.
The same techniques are being applied to prevent dubious pornography, that is honey pots! followed by .... one can only imagine!
What happens if I share completely legal software? How are they supposed to tell if what I am sharing is in fact legal to share freely? I am constantly playing around with VMs and what not and love playing with various systems. So what happens to nerds like me who just happen to use a lot of bandwidth just tinkering? I think this is ridiculous on so many levels. Besides just because torrents are being used doesn't mean you are doing something illegal. A lot of free software is shared via torrents. Well I am just preaching to the choir here you all know what I am getting at. Either way what you do with your connection to the internet is no one else's business.
"It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice."
I've been trying to "do the right thing" for years. But they keep making it harder to. I have been buying DVDs and ripping them to my hard drive to take to work (remote location, on an oil rig). But they say I am a criminal for ripping them. It's not convenient to bring a pile of DVDs to the rig (weight restrictions, risk of damage, maybe didn't bring the right one). Now the disclaimer says I can't watch them in a hotel (on my way to the rig) or on the oil rig. So now I am a criminal for doing that. Some DVDs I have bought I have not been able to rip.
The message from the industry is "go pirate stuff, you're a criminal anyway".
Disney puts stuff "back in the vault" (artificial scarcity). If it is not available any other way, what do they expect?
Want to watch it on a different device? Either too bad, or pay us again.
Want to watch that? You have to be online. (Internet is slow here on the oil rig, and a lot of stuff (like Steam, Netflix, etc) are blocked.). Hell, even at home, our internet/phone/TV provider went offline during hurricane Arthur, and it would not let us play back stuff on the PVR. It's recorded locally on the hard drive, but required service provider authorization to play.
The lesson is, pay and lose and get treated like dirt. Download without paying, and watch any time/any where/on whatever device you want.
I tell her to carry condoms. At least there's a chance she'll heed that one.
I don't just tell my daughter, I buy them for her.
Only size Small though
Aside of a rather tasteless joke that comes to my mind...
Do you really want them to rip?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Also, some don't have the money to buy stuff, or they just don't want to pay (for whatever reasons).
> Either way what you do with your connection to the internet is no one else's business.
Thanks man, I needed that chuckle.