So, you want to download videos? You sons of pig troff wipers? I fart in your general direction.
OK, so this isn’t a bad rip off of a Monty Python bit. Rather this is the lay of the land in France as the government has bowed under pressure from the entertainment industry to take draconian measures against people who download music and video.
From France 24:
Internet users in France who frequently download music or films illegally risk losing Web access under a new anti-piracy system unveiled on Friday.
The three-way pact between Internet service providers, the government and owners of film and music rights is a boon to the music industry, which has been calling for such measures to stop illicit downloads eating into its sales.
Under the agreement — drawn up by a commission headed by the chief executive of FNAC, one of France’s biggest music and film retailers — service providers will issue warning messages to customers downloading files illegally.
If users ignore those messages, their accounts could be suspended or closed altogether.
“We run the risk of witnessing a genuine destruction of culture,” French president Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech endorsing the deal.
“The Internet must not become a high-tech Far West, a lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. And on whose backs? On artists’ backs,” he added.
Ah yes, there it is, the invocation of the artist. Yes this is all in a bid to support the artist. Well, I have only one response to this.
Bullshit.
Sorry, but, I have been there done that. I worked for a major record label for several years before getting into the IT space. And no. They most assuredly do not have the best interests of the artist at heart. I remember one sales meeting where a prominent blues singer had passed away that morning. Were we there to grieve? Nope. We were there to plan end caps and a boxed set in the hopes of maximizing on the news of her passing.
Destruction of French culture? Give me a bloody break. This is an attempt to squash the little guy in a bid to make more money for the film and music studios. Plain and simple. If only it actually went to the artists. Just ask Prince, the Cure, Radiohead…
[tags]RIAA, MPAA, Sarkozy On Downloading, Sarkozy, Bit Torrent[/tags]
