Posts Tagged ‘Napster’
Another headline-grabbing chapter in the Swedish Pirate Bay trial (for previous coverage of this on our blog see the archive) – it turns out that the judge presiding over the trial is a member of the Swedish Copyright Association, as well as another powerful copyright group (see Guardian Tech for full details).
Apparently though this is not a conflict of interest according to the judge in question. Well that’s alright then, isn’t it… Though it’s exactly like having a Manchester United-supporting referee take charge of a Man U game. But nothing wrong there either, is there? Or maybe it’s like having the CEO of McDonalds giving advice on the health impact of fast-food – again, seems ok to me. (I should…
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The French government yesterday provoked no small measure of both surprise and shock in its decision to reject a bill designed to crack down on internet piracy. The bill had been commended prior to the vote by public figures ranging from president Nicolas Sarkozy to US film director Steven Soderbergh. (For more info on background see Guardian Technology for example).
However, far from being surprised I instead find myself relieved – and puzzled that so many are dismayed by the decision…
While not wanting to deny the need to control illegal internet downloading both for the sakes of artists and production labels/studios etc and users, it seems that this particular measure was fundamentally flawed in one sense – it relied upon cutting…
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The age-old dispute (well it certainly feels like it) over illegal music downloading – despite years of legal wrangling, scaremongering lawsuits, Napster, Limewire and all the rest of it, there is still a huge amount of work remaining to be done before all the various interested parties here are satisfied. However, there is now talk in Westminster of introducing a new solution which might ’solve the problem’ (if only things were so simple). So question is what is it – and could it work?
The premise is fairly simple – driven by a direct reconfiguration of responsibilities and re-direction of revenue streams. Basically ISP’s would be made liable for illegal file-sharing, but in return for accepting this burden (and incentive to…
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The equation is pretty simple: as the quality of modern broadband provision increases, so too does the range of content that can be accessed illegally. A decade ago an evening’s Napster haul could rarely extend to beyond a few single mp3s, mostly chosen from a fairly narrow selection of what was currently popular. Now a few hours’ downloading can easily yield a hundred chart albums, maybe even a few Hollywood films, computer games or other software. It’s no wonder that the people responsible for publishing this content are keen to reclaim a market they used to rule, and in which now they are increasingly seen as out-dated ogres, selfishly refusing to share, like a child hoarding toys. Their latest lifeline…
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