New anti piracy law incoming... and its bullshit

[BloodOmen]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18594105

if i'm reading this correctly even if you've downloaded something 100% legally you have to pay £20 if they send you a letter regardless of it being illegal or legal, how the fuck is that going to work if i've read that right? surely that means they're just going to rob people blind regardless of if they've pirated or not?

 

[Moriath]

It's not a new law it's a proposal for a change to the current digital act thingy that asnt been implemented yet anyway because no one can agree on how to do it.

And yes it's crap to charge to prove innocence without them proving guilt

 

[BloodOmen]

The telecoms regulator said it expected the scheme to begin in 2014. We have 2 years without it atleast, and 1 year after that:

ISPs - who must also contribute to the cost of running the scheme - will ultimately be required to take steps against repeat offenders such as limiting their broadband speed or suspending their accounts.
However, Ofcom noted this would require further legislation that could only be considered after the letter scheme had been in force for a year

Greedy corporations ruining the internet... again, do they honestly think this is going to fix their profits? does it fuck, people will just go extra far out of their way to download shit.

 

[rynnor]

The £20 is to prevent everyone exercising their legal rights to challenge it else the companies involved would lose more than they stand to make.

Its completely favouring the corporations over the rights of individuals - can see the Conservatives passing it tbh - Cameron seems to be swinging to the right like crazy currently.

 

[BloodOmen]

Cameron's on fucking acid with shit he's been saying lately, Labour is going to fucking annihilate him come the next election.

 

[rynnor]

Cameron's on fucking acid with shit he's been saying lately, Labour is going to fucking annihilate him come the next election.

Sadly yes and then we will lurch to the left - so much for politics of the centre.

 

[soze]

How will this work? They catch you downloading a film so they send you a bill for the film plus a fine and a warning? Then if you want to fight it that costs you £20 seems very much for corporation and against the people.

 

[opticle]

It's completely idiotic.

The only people who would agree to this are completely out of touch.

I used to be very anti-Labour and pro- getting the Conservative folks in just to give them their turn, but now I can't wait to see the back of David Cameron. Fuckwit. He and his cronies are complete rich-tosser morons.

 

[BloodOmen]

I doubt it will get passed in its current form, it could be exploited to fleece money out of people then, even if they are innocent, it'd be just as criminal as piracy itself which in itself is a fucking funny irony really! I don't know why they bother tho, it's impossible to stop piracy, short of physically paying someone to look over everyone's shoulder there is simply noway to stop any sort of piracy.

Bad on the artists, movie makers, game devs sure, end of the day tho piracy has been around for well over 20 years and they've still failed to stamp it out, its an impossible war :l why can't they just accept it and try and sort out some other revenue stream instead? fuck knows the money they piss away on such a pointless act could go to better use, like the homeless for example, or abuse victims.

 

[Scouse]

even if you've downloaded something 100% legally you have to pay £20 if they send you a letter regardless of it being illegal or legal, how the fuck is that going to work if i've read that right? surely that means they're just going to rob people blind regardless of if they've pirated or not?

Traffic fines work in exactly the same way. Pay until proven innocent, but you can't prove your innocence...

 

[BloodOmen]

in which case they're just clutching at straws.

 

[Chilly]

You lot are deluded if you think labour would do anything differently regarding this bill. It's pressure from the US and our own media sector - it's got fuck all to do with left or right.

 

[Raven]

Businesses and their lobbyists drive governments, regardless of which puppet is prime minister.

 

[Chilly]

In fact this whole argument is symptomatic of how bloody forgetful everyone is. Every single government, regardless of so-called political leaning, is self serving, detrimental to the public good and more than willing to steal income from next decade to pay bills for today. Our last government liberalised capital markets so much that the economy fell apart. The government before that did similar things and sold off vast amounts of public infrastructure for little societal benefit. This government has taken the privatisation hatchet to the NHS and will probably do horrible things to that.

It's the need for governments to leave a legacy mixed with absolutely no accountability that lands us in these kinds of situations. I bet half the people moaning about this did not vote at the last GE, either.

They. Are. All. Cunts.

 

[Scouse]

They. Are. All. Cunts.

Yup.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Traffic fines work in exactly the same way. Pay until proven innocent, but you can't prove your innocence...

Not true. You write to them within the allotted time, but DON'T PAY. If they reject your claim then you still only pay the reduced amount, even if it's after the time limit. If you state this in your letter of appeal they have to accept it because the appeals process is often so slow you wouldn't get the chance to pay the reduced fee.

This is a scheme where you have to pay to appeal, which is totally different.

 

[Raven]

What we need is revolution. Not smashing shops up like those cunts in London but real, long lasting change.

I can't see it happening though.

 

[DaGaffer]

The £20 is to prevent everyone exercising their legal rights to challenge it else the companies involved would lose more than they stand to make.

Its completely favouring the corporations over the rights of individuals - can see the Conservatives passing it tbh - Cameron seems to be swinging to the right like crazy currently.

Actually, the £20 is there because the telcos asked for it. Their view is that they're being forced into this whole process by the media industry and actually have to carry most of the costs of implementing it. They've introduced the £20 (think of it as similar to a FOI request charge), probably in the hope that its dubious legality will torpedo the whole ridiculous charade. The most likely outcome is that the EU come down on this like a ton of bricks.

This bit of the article made me LOL:

Copyright owners can request details about all the accusations made against any account-holder who receives three or more letters within a 12-month period, but the user's name will not be revealed at this stage.

Rights holders wishing to chase a suspected pirate must seek a court order requiring the ISP to hand over the details.

Ofcom said this additional step was designed to encourage efforts to be focused "on the most persistent alleged infringers".

Yeah, right. That's what its for. The Telcos and OFCOM already know the big downloaders and they know that these people will move or are already moving their sharing behaviour to encrypted sources; you'll never stop the hard core; this legislation is about "scaring the mass market straight" so it never gets to the point of a court case and potential PR disaster for the media owners as the drag a 12 year old or a 90-year old through the courts. No-one apart from the odd Zealot in the BPI, wants to see court cases, the RIAA experiences of 4-5 years ago showed how well that goes down with public opinion.