Why the BPI/OFCOM are the biggest threats to the internet since...ever...

As is the way with all things to do with the internet, those in the know will get around it, there is no denying that. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.

There has been reports of a £30/year "tax" to be imposed - an idea that I would actually support - and give you the right to download as much as you wanted. However;

Mr Taylor said newspaper reports stating that online users could be subject to an annual levy to cover losses from file-sharing were incorrect.

"A levy is not an issue under discussion. It has not been discussed between us and government and as far as we are aware it is not on the table."

So there goes an actually workable idea. Cunt.

Where it really starts to grate is when you read articles like this stating that massive houses such as Universal expect to make even larger profits (in 2007) even with the decline of the CD.

What the industry are missing here - and is the fundamental flaw in their argument - is this.

If the ability to download music was not there, it does not mean that people will go out and buy it. Think back to when we were kids in the years of the humble cassette tapes, and 2 layer tape decks. Your neighbour - say - records you a copy and gives it to you, you never had the intention of going out and actually buying the album, and if s/he hadn't copied it, you never would have owned it, and you wouldn't have cared.

For the sake of arguement, lets say you become a massive fan of this band, go out and pay for gigs, and a shit load of merchandise - all because your friend copied the tape. If you didn't like the album, then you wouldn't of listened to it again, and wouldn't have bought any of the aforementioned - the argument they use is potential sales, and that makes as much sense as saying "If I walked into the room in front of my friend, then I would have got with the girl instead of him!"

Another example, my dad is a massive Led Zeppelin fan. We have all the vinyl - most of them original pressings - which he bought when he was my age some 30+ years ago. All my life I have been surrounded by the yelps of Robert Plant, and due to this, I have gone and bought them on CD, and had/have a few posters lying around. Granted, no copying actually went on, but again, because of the actions of my father, Plant, Page and Jones have got that little bit of extra money.

But I have seem to have become derailed.

What the BPI are proposing as a method to combat piracy is to get the ISP's to monitor every single connection, and all the packets that transfer through them, and to do it in whatever way is "best" (read: cheapest and most invasive). This completely goes against the aims of Net Neutrality - something which (as the Daddy of the Web) Berners-Lee would be spitting nails about.

In fact, he is.

"I want to know if I look up a whole lot of books about some form of cancer that that's not going to get to my insurance company and I'm going to find my insurance premium is going to go up by 5% because they've figured I'm looking at those books," he said.

Sir Tim said his data and web history belonged to him.

He said: "It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return."

Source

And also.

Sir Tim added: "I myself feel that it is very important that my ISP supplies internet to my house like the water company supplies water to my house. It supplies connectivity with no strings attached.

"My ISP doesn't control which websites I go to, it doesn't monitor which websites I go to."

Source

And he's right.

Your ISP is the same as your Water/Electric/Gas. What you do with it when it enters your private property is your business and no one elses, and it sure as hell is not the business of the BPI or OFCOM.

But the BPI have "their profits" to think about, and as a result, they are not the worst of the bad guys.

OFCOM "has a statutory duty to further the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting consumers from harmful or offensive material."

At no point in there does it say "protect the profits of a fat cat organisation that is failing to adapt to the 21st Century, and as a result of still trying to use 20th Century ideas are loosing out." If anything, what they are actually doing is directly harming the consumers and reducing competition severally. They are failing at their 2 most primary aims, and as a Government Organisation this should not be accepted - how fucking much must it cost to have boughts these fuckers off? THAT is where all your money is going.

We are meant to live in a democratic society, and futhermore OFCOM are meant to look out for what is best for us, NOT the companies. They have failed this, and we NEED to use our democratic rights and abilities to make the fuckers suffer. From this point onward, I have no faith in OFCOM, no faith in this government, and no faith in my ISP (which is one of the 6 listed). They are failing at their primary purpose and this needs to be fixed. Write to your local MP, or hell, even straight to Brown himself, and TELL them that this is unacceptable and something needs to be done about it. Now.

FUCK THE BPI. FUCK THE RIAA. FUCK THE MPAA. FUCK THE MUSIC INDUSTY. FUCK OFCOM. FUCK CAPITALISM.

Scuzzmonkey.

All quotes from here - unless stated.

Note: I never ask for this normally, but please, everyone shout/digg/stumble/reddit/send to friends/etc this as much as possible, people NEED to know.