Many of you probably already know what the score is with P2P filesharing vs the media industry. There is now active stuff happening in the UK:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/16/digital-economy-bill-piracy-scrutiny
The UK government are currently passing a Digital Economy Bill through parliment, possibly inspired by the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and are being really back-handed about it.
Basically they're trying to get the right to aquire your house address and name from your ISP if they find out that you're using filesharing illegally, and send that info off to media companies so that they can sue you - Forefitting your privacy. And while they're at it, they'll cut off your internet too.
Despite this, it all relies heavily on being able to identify IP addresses - There are ways of hiding your IP address through anonymity systems, and these systems will grow, allowing hardcore filesharers to continue what they do. Meaning that all the bill will do is hit innocent people.
For more info you can watch a vid about it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4S4siQAfY4
Clause 17 of the bill, which is mentioned in the video, has already been rejected for being too harsh, which is one less thing to worry about - They wanted the power to change copyright laws on a whim without notifying anyone.
The rest of the bill still stands though - Remember that it's an ACTIVE BILL and they're trying to pass RIGHT NOW. If you're a UK resident you can sign the following petition against it (34,264 signatures at time of writing and increasing):
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontdisconnectus/
Sure, piracy may be wrong, but suing people and then depriving them of internet usage without much evidence against them is a much larger crime.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/16/digital-economy-bill-piracy-scrutiny
The UK government are currently passing a Digital Economy Bill through parliment, possibly inspired by the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and are being really back-handed about it.
Basically they're trying to get the right to aquire your house address and name from your ISP if they find out that you're using filesharing illegally, and send that info off to media companies so that they can sue you - Forefitting your privacy. And while they're at it, they'll cut off your internet too.
Despite this, it all relies heavily on being able to identify IP addresses - There are ways of hiding your IP address through anonymity systems, and these systems will grow, allowing hardcore filesharers to continue what they do. Meaning that all the bill will do is hit innocent people.
For more info you can watch a vid about it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4S4siQAfY4
Clause 17 of the bill, which is mentioned in the video, has already been rejected for being too harsh, which is one less thing to worry about - They wanted the power to change copyright laws on a whim without notifying anyone.
The rest of the bill still stands though - Remember that it's an ACTIVE BILL and they're trying to pass RIGHT NOW. If you're a UK resident you can sign the following petition against it (34,264 signatures at time of writing and increasing):
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontdisconnectus/
Sure, piracy may be wrong, but suing people and then depriving them of internet usage without much evidence against them is a much larger crime.
