Government cracking down on illegal downloaders

[adamhornsby]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Inte rnet-Service-Providers-In-Major-Crackdown-On-I llegal-Music-And-Film-Downloads/Article/200807 415052126?lpos=Business_3&lid=ARTICLE_15052126 _Internet%2BService%2BProviders%2BIn%2BMajor%2 BCrackdown%2BOn%2BIllegal%2BMusic%2BAnd%2BFilm %2BDownloads Glad to see our Government have their bl00dy priorities right. So it looks like knife crime, credit crunch, global warming and terrorism are not at least a little bit important compared to this.
Maybe if the Government opened their eyes they'd be able to see why we download illegaly, because we're taxed so much. Next we'll be taxed to bl00dy breathe! To be honest, i dont care about singers and pop stars, they're no better than the rest of us, and get paid more money and have no sense at all.
AARRGGHH!! It pi**es me off so much!
Stupid Government, they're all dam useless..

[Twenty20]

I'm not saying it's right to download music illegally but the music industry has only itself to blame I feel. I think there's a lot of greed.

A representative of the music industry on the radio yesterday was saying that its actually illegal in the UK to transfer the music on a CD you have bought in a shop onto your own MP3 player to listen to it. How can this be right? They want you to buy the same music again and again. This is what I mean about greed. It doesn't make illegal downloads right but until the music industry drags itself up to date and understands that file sharing is with us and they find a way to work with that, then we'll always have illegal downloads.

[LeMarchand]

A representative of the music industry on the radio yesterday was saying that its actually illegal in the UK to transfer the music on a CD you have bought in a shop onto your own MP3 player to listen to it. How can this be right?

It's one of those old laws that has never been changed - a bit like those places where it is still legal to shoot a Frenchman with a bow and arrow - I believe that there are plans afoot to change this. However, in the US it is (and always has been) legal to make personal "fair use" copies. However, people are still illegitimately downloading music there - so it's obviously not why they are doing it.

until the music industry drags itself up to date and understands that file sharing is with us and they find a way to work with that, then we'll always have illegal downloads.

Well, legal downloads are now easy enough to find, unless you are after quite obscure stuff. How much more work do they need to do?

[nedflanders]

US 79c per track
UK 79p per track
at current ex-rate we are paying double over here. Someone is ripping us off as usual.

[TEAK36]

I agree that illegal downloading is theft, and I have to admit that it is something I have done many many times, but
Isn't it possible that by downloading tracks we could be doing the artist a favour? I recall reading somewhere that Artist make most of their money by touring, and not from CD's of legal downloads. I have downloaded albums out of curiosity before, and have liked them so much that I spent �20 on a Concert ticket. Surely there are many other people that have done this, and the �20 is a whole lot more than the measley few pence the artists would get from the CD sales? I think this is why we are seeing an increase in music giveaways.Lets face it, there are probably very few artist these day who manage to sell millions of albums, and our charts seem to be littered with one hit wonders.

[adamhornsby]

Thanks for your extremely useless post noknowledge, you should perhaps look the other way when you call people 'idiots' ok?
It is a government scheme actually Ethel, please do read the link, ta
How exactly do the Government know whether people are illegaly downloading? Unless they look at our IP addresses, which isnt that an invasion of privacy??
Besides, if we have people snooping at our internet habbits, what happens if some pillock loses information, just like everything else thats happened under mr Brown's government.
And, I have actually purchased music before for everyones information. But if you look at iTunes, we pay double the amount the US pays, so tell me this, does illegal downloading look more desirable when WE
in the UK are being ripped off?

[LeMarchand]

Most people use P2P to illegally download content. If you wanted to see who was downloading (say) "The Dark Knight", all you would have to do is fire up any P2P program and start downloading an appropriate file. A nice list will appear of who you are sharing said file with/downloading from, including IP addresses. No need for any specialised software, knowledge or to ask ISPs for logs.

[littleoldme]

does illegal downloading look more desirable when WE
in the UK are being ripped off?

But we're not being ripped off! We're talking 79p a time for a track you can keep for ever, listen to as many times as you like, stick on an mp3 player or burn to a CD (unless you fall foul of DRM - truly the work of Satan, but that's a whole different thread). Never mind what they're paying in the US, 79p per track is hardly extortionate when you consider that some High Street chains were charging (and maybe still do) �4.99 for a CD single. Now that was a rip-off.

BTW, the answer to your question is no.

[dabees]

I've downloaded 15 albums illegally, i liked 7 of them. I erased those i didn't like.

I sent a cheque of �5 to those i enjoyed and only one of them didn't cash it.

It seems a simple solution to me.

[anotheoldgit]

Is it illegal also to lend out a CD?

What is the difference by lending it out to someone, that person will not be buying a copy?

Is the public library breaking the law by sharing their CDs with hundreds of people?

How can they police people borrowing a CD and then copying it, for their own use?

[adamhornsby]

A representative of the music industry on the radio yesterday was saying that its actually illegal in the UK to transfer the music on a CD you have bought in a shop onto your own MP3 player to listen to it. How can this be right?

What? Thats unbelievable. If you pay for it, you have the right to listen to it however you want, whether on an mp3 player or not. Bl00dy hell, the world has actually gone mad!

[littleoldme]

Ah, now here I do agree with you. Much as I'm against people downloading music for nothing, equally I firmly believe that once you have paid for it, you should be able to make as many copies (for your own personal use) in as many formats as you like.