Because a Problem Moaned About is a Problem Halved.

Friday 19 February 2010

It's aliveeeeee..... arr me hearties


I'm back, I'm alive, I've missed you all dear readers (or reader, or... mum, thanks for reading this). The last few months have been manic but I'm now working for a computer company named after a fruit (no, not Richard Simmons).
Today dear readers (reader, *sigh* mum) I wish to talk to you about 'Filesharing' *gasp* yup, that scourge of the internetz, that evil piracy that means hard working musicians sleep on the streets and Tom Cruise drives a Yugo (Google it). You've probably heard about it from the upright citizens at the RIAA and MPAA, those tireless heroes who work ceaselessly to keep those thieving little torrenters from releasing new media for the masses to share. Here in the UK these brave guys are being aided by companies like ACS:Law, Davenport Lyons and Tilly Bailey Irvine who send out letters to these evil web renegades and tell them to pay up for the untold agony they've caused the film and music industry. Their evidence for this is apparently flawless, so how could it be then that they are targeting pensioners, people who have never heard of Torrents and, in one case, a dead guy! Could it just possibly be that these law firms are not the righteous upholders of truth and justice but are actually ambulance chasing bastards who are hoping to make a fast buck from any way possible. Yes, it is. This speculative invoicing is now rife in the UK with the above companies being investigated for their practices, they are targeting people with no evidence other then an IP address, WHICH IS WORTHLESS. All over the world the music and film industries are bemoaning piracy, whilst making massive profits. Remember the 70's 'Home Taping Kills"? Didn't quite work out like that. Computer Game companies are introducing more archaic forms of DRM with the result of driving people, who would otherwise of been happy to pay, straight to the torrents sites. The crack down on file sharers is madness, money is still flooding into the creative industries (although often not to the artists themselves), file sharing is a great form of free advertising and there is no decent, up to date distribution and pricing structures for movies anyway, the industry being happy to sit on a decades old business model. Most importantly, there is no point in going after sharers if you are targeting the wrong people! This is a battle lost, the internet destroyed the old methods and the labels need to realise this. People do not see harm in sharing because there is very little damage actually done. Copyright law needs a massive overhaul to stop simply protecting big business, if I buy something then I own it, simple, and the right to do what the hell I want with it, be it share it with friends, burn it or show it a public gatherings and I refuse to line the MAFIAA's pockets anymore.