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Piracy Police Chief Calls For State Interference To Stop Internet "Anarchy"
An anonymous reader writes The City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) is determined to continue its anti-piracy efforts in the years to come. However, the unit's head, Andy Fyfe, also believes that the government may have to tighten the rules on the Internet to stop people from breaking the law. PIPCU's chief believes the public has to be protected from criminals, including pirate site operators who take advantage of their trust. If that doesn't happen, then the Internet may descend into anarchy, he says, suggesting that the government may have to intervene to prevent this. The Police chief believes tighter rules may be needed to prevent people from breaking the law in the future. This could mean not everyone is allowed to launch a website, but that a license would be required, for example.
Where is the (+1; Insightful Troll) mod?
How about protecting the public from the lobbyists and legislators pushing oppressive copyright laws?
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
And... the Internet shall descend into Anarchy! With a capital Anarchy!
They are not police but more like a paid thugs or enforcers working for a group of corporations.
Corporations have a legitimate interest in fighting piracy. It interferes with shipping, and endangers the crews. But it seems silly for the London Police to be involved. It would be more reasonable for anti-piracy to be handled by the Royal Navy, as part of a coordinated international effort. This could include arming merchant ships, providing convoy escorts, and/or retaliation against ports providing sanctuary to pirates.
how do you identify these rouge, unlicensed website operators?
By catching them red-handed.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Um. You mean "Tilting against windmills". It was Don Quixote who was doing the tilting, not the windmills.
(To "tilt", in this context, is an archaic verb meaning to joust with a lance. Knights on horseback, and all that.)
"Tilting AT windmills". Darn it. First rule of internet pedantry - any pedantic post will inevitably contain at least one howling error that isn't spotted until the post has been irretrievably committed....
and/or retaliation against ports providing sanctuary to pirates
Hey now, leave port 6881 out of this.