Illegal downloaders 'face UK ban'

[happychappy]

People in the UK who go online and illegally download music and films may have their internet access cut under plans the government is considering.

BBC News

[Jamesrt2004]

I'd like to see how they implement this :/ and keep track of it I'm sure the p2p networks will be like talk to the hand

and this will only make people with laptops etc, just go round and using other peoples wireless etc to download

[Pinacolada]

And how they are going to cut off people from wi-fi and wimax ? maybe some kind of electromagnetic prison ? or will they cut off your power line ?

How about cutting off people from cigarettes ? and making smoking illegal. P2P don't kill anybody - smoking kills millions.Economy lose much more money through smoking that will ever through P2P - I mean, so many people die - and then they don't pay taxes or work.

[Kai Robinson]

I see the state is poking into affairs that are none of its concern. We'd become just as bad as china.

I'd never sign up with such a mainstream ISP anyway...and if i was 'caught', just up and move to a different ISP.

I download TV, rather than music - if its already been aired in public, for free, then i see no problem with taking my copy, especially as i pay a license fee.

[Origin_Unknown]

somehow i can't see this going through without it going to the house of commons first

[perry_78]

This whole "piracy suxor" notion that corporations and states have has gone from amusing to retarded. Why should ISPs be responsible for the activities of its users? Surely, they would lose out on profits from such a scheme.

[LowRun]

We're heading in that direction too in France unfortunately

[Pete]

There will always be ways and means to avoid being caught. The gioverment here has sunk and sunk even more now with Brown in the cabnet.

However for them to do any of it it'll be a breach of the current contract you hold with your ISP.

I heard this on the raido at work and checked my contract with my ISP and it says nothing about looking at what i use my net for and what i do with it, so im sure if someone was to be caught they'd soon be a battle back.

[nemrod]

We're heading in that direction too in France unfortunately

Better than that we have the copyright on the idea! So we will cut the internet for the uk gvt who steal those idea!

[nemrod]

This whole "piracy suxor" notion that corporations and states have has gone from amusing to retarded. Why should ISPs be responsible for the activities of its users? Surely, they would lose out on profits from such a scheme.

It's not so stupid... Against piracy, action like in us are very unpopular.
(like Jammie Thomas - 24 files = fine 200 000$). Main problem for gouvernement is actual laws are too strong, you can't send to jail 1/3 of your population.
so they try to find new law which could be used. Obviously geek will always find a way, but the point is most stop.
And for the isp (Why should ISPs be responsible for the activities of its users?), sorry but this is a joke, in my country, most have play with piracy: tv spot like "free music to download" etc.. Some isp have underground usenet channel on their channel...

[D4rkn3ss]

i know i know.. it sucks to live in third world country but.. at least we don't have laws for this kind of stuff

[Cobalt]

Start using encryption on your torrents. Problem sorted.

[Serra]

You know what? Anyone who feels bad for people who download illegal content and get caught should go jump in a lake. It is currently an illegal practice and therefore demands fitting punishments, and I think this is a sterling idea.

Here's where the replies begin. To help head them off, let me explain my position. Let's say that you actually understand something about IP, copyrights, and the music/movie industry (and I'll guarantee most people who read this don't, beyond the basic framework and stereotypes). Given that as a requirement for an opinion, and assuming you have the opinion is that freely sharing things that the producers tell you is against their EULA is acceptable, you have two choices:
1. Download content illegally
2. Do all that you can to express your opinions about this and have it made legal, which is within your rights, and act like a law-abiding citizen until you can download content legally.

My point is that regardless of where you sit on the fence of content availability, or how many different purchase models you can think of, until the day comes when we have grown globally into this new method of thinking about product delivery, you are violating the law and deserve to be punished as such. You want change faster? Don't just sit on your backside and download Photoshop to stick it to the man, get up and write a letter to your MP/Congressman/whathaveyou.

[nemrod]

Start using encryption on your torrents. Problem sorted.

Not solved, if this is the same law than those discuss in France, the point is massive download with big tracker sites. (so basically just ip collect on p2p network) Encryption, like ftp and so on will only be small communauty, end of the massive piracy, problem solved.

[LowRun]

Start using encryption on your torrents. Problem sorted.

As far as i know encryption is only to prevent your ISP to have a look at your packets and limit your bandwidth if they are P2P. You still need to expose your IP address to share stuff, this is where they bite you. I use Protowall to make their work harder and keep my arse safe as they even tried to scare peeps that downloaded the Call of Juarez demo on torrents here along with peeps that downloaded the game and to get easy money from them with prosecution threats.

[Jamesrt2004]

Not solved, if this is the same law than those discuss in France, the point is massive download with big tracker sites. (so basically just ip collect on p2p network) Encryption, like ftp and so on will only be small communauty, end of the massive piracy, problem solved.

Wouldn't the P2p sites just base it's servers in a country that doesn't have these laws so therefore connecting to them isn't illegal as such

or am I wrong ?

[Cobalt]

If they can't tell what the content I'm sharing is then they have no right to cut me off. What if I'm downloading open office or linux (which I do fairly often)? In fact most of what I share is perfectly legal and there are no films or music among my torrents. IMO this is just like the wire tapping issue. I want them to already have evidence that I'm sharing illegal files before they start looking at my packets.

On the other hand the content I do download "illegally" it either gets paid for later e.g. when I game isn't out in Europe yet because of ty distribution rates or deleted e.g. I've played this game for 30 minutes and I'm already bored. The second situation wouldn't arise if game stores would accept returns like they used to.

[LowRun]

If they can't tell what the content I'm sharing is then they have no right to cut me off. What if I'm downloading open office or linux (which I do fairly often)? In fact most of what I share is perfectly legal and there are no films or music among my torrents. IMO this is just like the wire tapping issue. I want them to already have evidence that I'm sharing illegal files before they start looking at my packets.

On the other hand the content I do download "illegally" it either gets paid for later e.g. when I game isn't out in Europe yet because of ty distribution rates or deleted e.g. I've played this game for 30 minutes and I'm already bored. The second situation wouldn't arise if game stores would accept returns like they used to.

Currently your ISP is eventually looking at your packets for himself and for QoS matters, identifying illegal content sharing is usually done by specialized outfits at torrents servers level or with various other tools, they will then pass the data to your ISP that will issue a cease and desist warning or cut your access. No need to sniff your packets to know what you share as you make it public to all the others peers.

[gallardo]

Don't just sit on your backside and download Photoshop to stick it to the man, get up and write a letter to your MP/Congressman/whathaveyou.

You know those "In Soviet Russia... " jokes?
Well, in post-commie Romania a letter to our whathaveus will end up being worthless. As in... worth-less-than-toiletpaper.

Edit: Ok, so I'm offtopic here because Romania has a 75% piracy rate anyway. Yeah... mostly companies have legit software here. MP3s... I honestly don't know anyone actually paying a company for an MP3. Maybe paying a friend to make you an MP3 CD or something, but that's about it.

[Clint]

What disturbes me quite a lot is that ppl gladly uses the name "piracy" for copyright infringement.

Now, for me piracy is something that is taking places outside the Phillipines where they actually plunder ships and kill the crew before sinking it.

It is a bit hard for me to see a parallell with killing people and copy a few too many pages out of a book.

..beacuse that exacly what it is, downloading a MP3 or copying a few too many pages out of a book for study purposes is copyright infringement.

...not stealing, and certainly not plundering and killing people.

[nemrod]

What disturbes me quite a lot is that ppl gladly uses the name "piracy" for copyright infringement.

Now, for me piracy is something that is taking places outside the Phillipines where they actually plunder ships and kill the crew before sinking it.

It is a bit hard for me to see a parallell with killing people and copy a few too many pages out of a book.

..beacuse that exacly what it is, downloading a MP3 or copying a few too many pages out of a book for study purposes is copyright infringement.

...not stealing, and certainly not plundering and killing people.

Sure, but piracy is an old keyword in the internet langage and has someting "romantic". I'm much more allergic to "stealing" stupidity which I have always to support during long minutes when I watch a dvd I have paid...

[twilyth]

And how they are going to cut off people from wi-fi and wimax ? maybe some kind of electromagnetic prison ? or will they cut off your power line ?

How about cutting off people from cigarettes ? and making smoking illegal. P2P don't kill anybody - smoking kills millions.Economy lose much more money through smoking that will ever through P2P - I mean, so many people die - and then they don't pay taxes or work.

you'd have to start war driving which can be a bit tedious if you want to dl 10 or 20 gig at a time.

As for smoking, the cigarette companies have lobbyists and tons of cash to spread around - I don't think there are any P2P companies out there with that kind of clout.

My point is that regardless of where you sit on the fence of content availability, or how many different purchase models you can think of, until the day comes when we have grown globally into this new method of thinking about product delivery, you are violating the law and deserve to be punished as such. You want change faster? Don't just sit on your backside and download Photoshop to stick it to the man, get up and write a letter to your MP/Congressman/whathaveyou.

dl'ing copy protected material is generally regarded as theft. And technically it is. I think there is a better chance of getting pot legalized than there is of removing any restrictions on downloads.

Laws like these actually help the pirates since only the more technical users will be able to skirt the restrictions. But since the market for cheap knock-offs will never go away, these laws will bring more people into the marketplace as they decide not to attempt dl's that can be traced back to them. So you'll have off shore web sites popping up that offer the sale of popular music and video at a fraction of the cost. Someone I know needed to get some training videos for a certification class that would have cost hundreds of dollars. She bought them from ebay for a fraction of that. They were advertised as used but in fact they were copies. It will be a gold mine for boot leggers.

Start using encryption on your torrents. Problem sorted.

Not solved, if this is the same law than those discuss in France, the point is massive download with big tracker sites. (so basically just ip collect on p2p network) Encryption, like ftp and so on will only be small communauty, end of the massive piracy, problem solved.

The easiest way around this is usenet. Except most people don't have the patience to learn how to use it. But an encrypted usenet connection makes you immune to prosecution - unless at some point the government gets access to their records and the usenet service kept a list of everything you dl'ed. And even then, until they could actually find the stuff on your hdd, I don't think they would have a case. Encrypted file systems for the win.

[ak_47_boy]

Get some people together and go rip up a few dozen major optic lines.

A few million people died in WW2 to save Europe's freedom. Why would you freely allow your government to control your information?

[gallardo]

What disturbes me quite a lot is that ppl gladly uses the name "piracy" for copyright infringement.

Now, for me piracy is something that is taking places outside the Phillipines where they actually plunder ships and kill the crew before sinking it.

It is a bit hard for me to see a parallell with killing people and copy a few too many pages out of a book.

..beacuse that exacly what it is, downloading a MP3 or copying a few too many pages out of a book for study purposes is copyright infringement.

...not stealing, and certainly not plundering and killing people.

I'm gonna start searching your posts for references to the word "mouse" and for every time you used the word "mouse" in a sense that involves computers and not the cheese-eating rodent you get a fish slap to the face.

[Fairydust]

dl'ing copy protected material is generally regarded as theft. And technically it is. I think there is a better chance of getting pot legalized than there is of removing any restrictions on downloads.

Technically, theft requires depriving the property to the owner. I guess "committing copyright infringement" and "illegal copying" doesn't quite roll of the tongue as easy.