News - Record companies ask ISPs to provide illegal downloader data

[Noxvayl]

I laugh when I read stuff like this, it is like they blatantly ignore the data that proves this sort of action is fruitless.

I rarely pirate anything any more and when I do it is because the legal option is not good enough. To be honest if I wasn't able to pirate music, movies, games and TV series when I was younger then the industry would not have any of the money I spend at the moment.

The more studies are done on piracy the more it turns out not to be as negative an activity as the industry makes it out to be. Switzerland refuses to make piracy an illegal activity based on their research and I have yet to come across any study to say otherwise. The only information I have found that claims piracy is harmful is anecdotal and is sourced from institutions with a vested interest in anti-piracy laws.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/swiss-government-file-sharing-no-big-deal-some-downloading-still-ok.ars
http://www.techspot.com/news/51990-eu-commission-piracy-doesnt-hurt-music-sales-may-even-help.html

[shaithis]

I'd imagine the much bigger issue now is TV and Film. These companies need to pull their finger out and make their content more accessible in the same way Spotify etc has for music.
the deals they make with companies like Sky and Virgin are outdated and basically encourage people to download stuff. You may only want to watch certain programmes like Game Of Thrones, Dexter or whatever yet you are pushed into subscribing to packages which include channels full of utter rubbish.

Until people stop subscribing, that is never going to change and Sky, Virgin etc will keep on bidding huge sums of money to air shows......and that cost has to be passed on.

[cjs150]

Actually, there's a specific exception in the DPA allowing the data controller to give personal information out for the prevention or detection of crime. As piracy is a crime, ISPs may give your personal information to someone who wishes to use it for detecting or preventing piracy. Baked into the DPA, nothing you can do about it, no special permissions required.

Piracy is not a crime. It is copyright infringement which is a civil offence not a criminal offence. People keep calling it copyright theft but it is not

[mercyground]

When they stop acting like the mafia and extorting and bullying people.
When they start treating their artists right with proper contracts.
When they stop abusing police/fbi/other gov resources to prosecute a CIVIL matter as a CRIMINAL one.
only then they /might/ get my respect.

Maybe.

[Noxvayl]

TV shows are notorious for exclusive deals which annoys me. At least there is the option to get 3Click.tv which offers a large selection of up to date TV shows for one subscription which is a lot cheaper than Sky or Virgin, you also get to watch what you want when you want to rather than being forced to watch things according to a TV network schedule. As far as I can see you get mostly American stuff with 3Click but for me that is perfect because I prefer the American TV shows. I use Netflix for films and the odd series I haven't started yet so I have no need for a TV subscription.

All I am waiting for now is a legal way to watch live sports how I want rather than being forced to subscribe to certain channels just to get a select few games I'm interested in.

[anselhelm]

Who the hell still pirates music?

(1) Enthusiasts who desire lossless music that cannot be purchased online.
(2) Music lovers who cannot find an album they desire either at all or at a reasonable price.
(3) Anyone who believes that music is heavily overpriced for what it is.
(4) Young people who have been shown how to do so by older siblings or by their parents.
(5) People who are unable to buy a specific album online quickly and download it via other means for quickness and convenience.
(6) People who refuse to give money to an industry which desires to give downloaders of copyrighted material harsher fines or sentences than murderers, rapists or paedophiles.

And so on.

In short, there are lots of reasons.

Furthermore, "piracy" actually HELPS the industry. It is a fallacy that it reduces music sales.

http://www.ibtimes.com/online-piracy-does-not-negatively-affect-digital-music-sales-may-actually-help-music-industry

Most people who try to take the righteous path to complain about copyright infringement do not understand it at all or how wrong the industry is in trying to treat downloaders as criminals.

[Barakka]

I'd imagine the much bigger issue now is TV and Film. These companies need to pull their finger out and make their content more accessible in the same way Spotify etc has for music.

For any who have not seen it, the recent speech by Kevin Spacey at the Edinburgh Television Festival about why Netflix will save Television has been doing the rounds the last few days between many involved in the Film & TV industry... very interesting...

"Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it."

[crossy]

Piracy is not a crime. It is copyright infringement which is a civil offence not a criminal offence. People keep calling it copyright theft but it is not

I'll introduce you to my colleague then, who pointed that (dictionary definition) to steal something you need to deprive the owner of it. But a copyright "thief" isn't removing the copyright from the holder ... they're merely refusing to acknowledge the "right" of the holder to that position. Or as he pithily put it ... if someone drives through a red light, you don't charge them with stealing the traffic lights!

For any who have not seen it, the recent speech by Kevin Spacey at the Edinburgh Television Festival about why Netflix will save Television has been doing the rounds the last few days between many involved in the Film & TV industry... very interesting...
"Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it."

Thanks for that - Mr Spacey is 100% correct. I doubt more than a reactionary handful of folks will go to the effort of "stealing" content if that content is readily available at a price that is - by their standards - judged to be "reasonable". Just about to slap in an order to Amazon for some blues CD's myself.

i like the advert that says piracy funds terrorism! but how when its a free download?

I remember the reasoning on this one, it's ... "interesting":
a. If you pay for an illegal copy then that money goes straight to fund organised crime, drug gangs, pedo rings, etc (we've all seen the ad's on the tv etc). None of it goes to fund disorganised crime, sorry, I meant the copyright holders;
b. If you get a free download, then the copyright holder is denied a sale. And a portion of that sale will go back to your government in tax (sales tax or VAT). That tax money is then used to fund government activities including policing. Therefore by getting a free download you're cutting police funding;
c. Also by denying a sale, you're also cutting the chances of employment for the population (someone has to make the DVD etc, package it, deliver it to you or sell it in a shop). A portion of your sale goes to those people in wages, and it's assumed that they pay income tax, so again you've deprived the government of revenue (see b above), plus this time you're also putting people on the dole ... you heartless b**tard! (last bit is sarcasm if it wasn't obvious)

Not saying I agree with any of the above, but thought it'd be helpful to reproduce it.

[CCODEZ]

Wouldn't surprise me if they just fixed up their predicted sales vs actual sales and said "yup, all those people we thought would buy and didn't buy must have downloaded it then".

[ardechey]

Rather than spying these companies need to help develop music distribution through things like spotify, youtube so people won't feel the need to pirate

[Savas]

Rather than spying these companies need to help develop music distribution through things like spotify, youtube so people won't feel the need to pirate

Agreed & that's the irony in this situation.

They're not moving with the times, then blaming the consumers and taking out on them. It's a little messed up, sort of like biting the hand that feeds you, the people that earns them their money. Also there's some really brain washed people out there who have fallen for this crap and actually believe what they're saying.

I don't buy music and this crap inclines me to continue to NEVER buy or pay for their music. If piracy of music stopped, I'm betting places like YouTube will EXPLODE even more and more places like it will be popular. It will shift and then it will be even EASIER for people to obtain music for free.

They can't stop it and I hope they burn every single penny they have trying to, till they die and a new fresh open thinking people step in.