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BPI threatening British file sharers again

Written by James Delahunty @ 16 Mar 2005 6:16 User comments (2)

BPI threatening British file sharers again The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is once again attempting to warn British P2P users off sharing copyrighted music online. This time the BPI has made a controversial comparison; they compared the fight against illegal file sharing to battling drunk driving. Last week, they also won a court ruling that is going to force six ISPs to hand over the identities of 31 subscribers that the BPI alleges to have shared copyrighted music on P2P networks illegally.
One BPI spokesman said this action will be part of a long-term process to attempt to deter people from illegal file sharing. "In terms of behavioral change, the U.K. government has broadcast the dangers of drunk driving, but people still drunk drive," said the BPI spokesman. The ISPs have less than two weeks to hand over the information to the BPI who will probably use it to sue the individuals. Usually these cases are settled out of court and it’s likely the users will hand over about £2000 each.

The BPI are relying on the publicity of their action to deter people from uploading music on P2P networks but do admit that it's a tough battle to win and it could take a very long time to see results. "We're reluctant to say, 'OK, the job's done. Let's spend money on making records,'" the BPI spokesman said. "I suspect that the problem won't go away just because we've launched two rounds of litigation." However comparing file sharing, which hurts nobody except maybe a major label executives bank account and drunk driving which leads to the death of many people annually is a bit careless of the BPI.



Source:
News.com

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2 user comments

116.3.2005 08:19

Here is the quote of the century!!!! "I suspect that the problem won't go away just because we've launched two rounds of litigation." How right you are.....!!!!

27.8.2005 10:38

You know, this comment is to the industry, or at least the AfterDawn Staff writer, the P2P services seem to resolving the issue of downloaded music. We are really talking about lost revenue, from the perspective of the Record Execs frame of reference. You should be thinking of this as an opportunity to use it as an advertising asset, I'm sorry the idea is to get exposure. Take a few tips from the porn industry and the spammers out therer. Downloads of new material such as Elvis Costello; Alanis; Tori Amos, all use a simple set of techniques: put out files on the net that serve your purposes and most what I would use the P2P services for, where's the good stuff out there? They have been releasing files that have the first verse and may even fade out at the first verse, then you drop out and put another two and one half minutes of dead air, or you cycle the musical segment again and again. The file size matches the expected size of the song and you get a preview of what you're buying on most of the CD. Win-win situation. Don't think of it as losing income, as instead, a place to manage content. You just have to make your version pervasive for the first real wave of buyer, remember we are buying 4.5 times the average amount of what we hope is legal not mass produced pirate copies that the mafia (we're talking off the back of the truck bootleggers)is selling to legitimate retailers. Let's face it we want the artists to get their cut for having written this great material. The record labels also need to come to terms with the usary treatment of the artists and stop blaming everyone else for the lock on the way artists are charged back from an industry that needs to step asside and allow the artists a more direct channel. The technology and delivery system has change, start looking at ways to empower artists and there will be plenty revenue stream for everyone. You want as many legal songs and CDs passing through the pipeline as you can get, the rest is exposure.

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