The debate over what to do with those caught swapping music and movies online has flared up again this weekend after the FT reported that the UK government was considering accelerating its anti-piracy plans.
Recent ministerial changes have given record labels and other rights holders fresh ears for their lobbying, after the departure of Lord Carter, whose Digital Britain report pledged to reduce piracy by 70 per cent.
A renewed push for tougher sanctions against filesharers seems to be working. Stephen Timms, the Treasury minister who took the Digital Britain reins this month, has hinted that Ofcom could be given its “backstop” powers to force ISPs to restrict offenders’ broadband connections or block access to certain sites sooner than expected.
The government is still consulting on the subject, and is likely to face opposition from broadband providers who would prefer to see more emphasis on legal alternatives to piracy. While some surveys suggest that free music streaming sites such as Last.fm, We7 and Spotify have stemmed the appetite for piracy, most digital music businesses bemoan the time it takes to secure the rights to create new services.
“It’s clear not all consumers are persuaded that the services available today provide a compelling alternative to illegal file sharing,” a Virgin Media spokesperson told the FT. Its own deal with Universal Music – to provide unlimited access to tracks in return for helping the label catch illegal filesharers – is one example of a better incentive to avoid piracy, Virgin says, although other labels do not appear to be close to joining the service. “The role of legislation should be to support and encourage such initiatives,” Virgin added.
But that’s the exact opposite of the rights holders’ lobbying agenda, Tom Watson, the Labour MP and friend of the geeks, says on his blog this weekend.
“Challenged by the revolutionary distribution mechanism that is the internet, big publishers with their expensive marketing and PR operations and big physical distribution networks, are seeing their power and profits diminish. Faced with the choice of accepting this and innovating, or attempting, King Canute-style, to stay the tide of change, they’re choosing the latter option, and looking to Parliament for help with some legislative sand bags.”
Two more UK newspapers have picked up on the story today.
The Sunday Times claims that Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, has been persuaded that pirates should be deprived of internet access altogether after dining with “Hollywood mogul” David Geffen. Quite aside from the fact that Lord Mandelson’s press office denies the subject of piracy was even raised with Mr Geffen in Corfu last week, the European Union’s telecoms package proposes making internet access a human right. That has already scuppered French plans to cut off filesharers and would make any similar proposals difficult in the UK too.
The Independent on Sunday says that filesharing could be criminalised as part of the anti-piracy crackdown. Copyright infringement is a civil offence today, and under the existing proposals in Digital Britain, repeat offenders would be taken to court by record labels after obtaining their details from ISPs.
The Pirate Party – the anti-copyright group that Swedish voters elected to the European Parliament in June – says in a blog post today it would welcome criminalisation of filesharing.
“Since nobody in power is willing to define exactly how evidence [against filesharers] will be gathered, I have to say that it would be of great help if the government would criminalise the offence and then the evidence would have to be gathered in a proper manner against each individual.”
With what little consensus there was between labels and ISPs falling away, the row is set to intensify before the government’s consultation ends next month.
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