The age-old argument about illegal downloading is back in the public eye today, with the government announcing plans to force ISPs to get tough on their subscribers who download copyrighted material -- typically music, films and television...
I'm in two-minds over this issue. I can clearly understand why people download illegally (I'm one of 'em), yet I also understand why the creators of the material we enjoy should be paid.
So I've always stuck to some principles/beliefs:
1. I've never downloaded a film, as I like to support the film industry and prefer going to the cinema and watching a DVD, anyway.
2. I've never downloaded music I'd have bought otherwise. But I've never been one to buy much music, anyway. I get sick of songs after they're played to death on the radio! The few tracks I have downloaded inspired me to buy the full album legitimately – something I definitely would not have done before.
3. I have downloaded television shows, yes. Guilty as charged. Why? I simply can't afford to subscribe to Sky just to watch 24, Lost and Prison Break. If I didn't download them, I'd simply get DVD recordings passed onto me from friends with Sky. And anyway, if it wasn't for me downloading Life On Mars, I currently wouldn't be watching Ashes To Ashes and adding to its ratings...
I still can't see how this new government proposal will work, for a number of reasons:
1. As an ISP, can you imagine being told you have to track and catalogue the activity of thousands/millions of people -- constantly? That's quite an undertaking!
2. Isn't it an infringement of a user's privacy to have what they do online tracked by their service provider? And won't users simply switch allegiance to ISPs they know aren't as strict, or simply don't have the capability to do as thorough job?
3. An estimated 6 million people are illegally downloading in the UK today – so will the ISPs slowly blacklist that huge chunk of people? That's surely going to eat into their finances! Imagine if all the illegal downloaders right now weren't able to sign up with any ISPs because of their online activities? The overnight absence of 6 million internet users, each paying an average of, say, £15 per month to their ISP...equals a loss of £90 million to UK service providers!
4. If this scheme does take-off, surely people will just start encrypting files – making it difficult for ISPs to distinguish between legitimate file transfers and illegal downloads? If history has taught us anything, it's that eggheads online are always one-step ahead of the game.
5. This idea would effectively turn ISPs into a form of internet police. Why not plough all that effort into tackling more serious internet crimes – like child pornography?
Oh well. This debate will run and run. The government's piracy "crackdown" is still only a proposal at this stage. Personally, I think it would help more if all movies and TV shows were available for legal downloading immediately. Mind you, why would TV companies shell out thousands to broadcast shows their viewers have downloaded and watched? Hmmm.
A lot of people I know turn to downloading purely because (a), they can't be bothered waiting 3-6 months for a show to arrive on terrestrial television, (b) they don't want, or can't afford, to subscribe to satellite/cable just to watch a few favourite shows, and (c) there's no decent legal alternative in the UK.
The full BBC News story can be read here.
I'm in two-minds over this issue. I can clearly understand why people download illegally (I'm one of 'em), yet I also understand why the creators of the material we enjoy should be paid.
So I've always stuck to some principles/beliefs:
1. I've never downloaded a film, as I like to support the film industry and prefer going to the cinema and watching a DVD, anyway.
2. I've never downloaded music I'd have bought otherwise. But I've never been one to buy much music, anyway. I get sick of songs after they're played to death on the radio! The few tracks I have downloaded inspired me to buy the full album legitimately – something I definitely would not have done before.
3. I have downloaded television shows, yes. Guilty as charged. Why? I simply can't afford to subscribe to Sky just to watch 24, Lost and Prison Break. If I didn't download them, I'd simply get DVD recordings passed onto me from friends with Sky. And anyway, if it wasn't for me downloading Life On Mars, I currently wouldn't be watching Ashes To Ashes and adding to its ratings...
I still can't see how this new government proposal will work, for a number of reasons:
1. As an ISP, can you imagine being told you have to track and catalogue the activity of thousands/millions of people -- constantly? That's quite an undertaking!
2. Isn't it an infringement of a user's privacy to have what they do online tracked by their service provider? And won't users simply switch allegiance to ISPs they know aren't as strict, or simply don't have the capability to do as thorough job?
3. An estimated 6 million people are illegally downloading in the UK today – so will the ISPs slowly blacklist that huge chunk of people? That's surely going to eat into their finances! Imagine if all the illegal downloaders right now weren't able to sign up with any ISPs because of their online activities? The overnight absence of 6 million internet users, each paying an average of, say, £15 per month to their ISP...equals a loss of £90 million to UK service providers!
4. If this scheme does take-off, surely people will just start encrypting files – making it difficult for ISPs to distinguish between legitimate file transfers and illegal downloads? If history has taught us anything, it's that eggheads online are always one-step ahead of the game.
5. This idea would effectively turn ISPs into a form of internet police. Why not plough all that effort into tackling more serious internet crimes – like child pornography?
Oh well. This debate will run and run. The government's piracy "crackdown" is still only a proposal at this stage. Personally, I think it would help more if all movies and TV shows were available for legal downloading immediately. Mind you, why would TV companies shell out thousands to broadcast shows their viewers have downloaded and watched? Hmmm.
A lot of people I know turn to downloading purely because (a), they can't be bothered waiting 3-6 months for a show to arrive on terrestrial television, (b) they don't want, or can't afford, to subscribe to satellite/cable just to watch a few favourite shows, and (c) there's no decent legal alternative in the UK.
The full BBC News story can be read here.
