[wordup] More common sense on copyright! Rock stars slam disconnection plan for pirates

[Adam Shand]

Another great article, please help spread the word!

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/2842099/Rock-stars-slam-disconnection-plan-for-pirates

Rock stars slam disconnection plan for pirates
By ASHER MOSES
Last updated 05:00 08/09/2009

Some of the biggest names in the music business, including Sir Elton  
John and Sir Paul McCartney, have slammed the record labels' plans to  
disconnect from the internet people who are caught repeatedly  
downloading music illegally.
The artists label the plans backward, illogical, expensive and  
"extraordinarily negative".

The movie and music industries have been pushing ISPs to implement  
this "three-strikes" scheme voluntarily for years but talks have  
stalled.

In Australia, the film industry is now suing iiNet in an attempt to  
have the courts force ISPs to do more to prevent illegal downloading  
over their networks.

Behind the scenes, the content owners have been pressuring the  
Government to step in and resolve the impasse through legislation.

The Government, which flagged a crackdown on unauthorised file sharing  
in its Digital Economy report in July, has said it will decide whether  
to make legislative changes "depending on the outcome of the [iiNet]  
case".

Now, the British Government has said it is considering giving its  
telco regulator, Ofcom, the power to force ISPs to disconnect illegal  
file sharers, sparking a torrent of debate in Britain.

In direct conflict with their record labels, a broad alliance of  
musicians, songwriters and producers have spoken out against the three  
strikes plan, in a statement obtained by The Guardian.

The statement was co-signed by the Featured Artists Coalition, the  
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the Music  
Producers Guild.

Together they represent a broad range of British stars including  
McCartney, John, Robbie Williams, Radiohead and Tom Jones.

The musicians labelled the disconnection plan illogical,  
"extraordinarily negative", expensive and backward looking.

"We vehemently oppose the proposals being made and suggest that the  
stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot,"  
the statement, quoted by The Guardian, read.

"The failure of 30,000 US lawsuits against consumers and the cessation  
of the pursuit of that policy should be demonstration enough that this  
is not a policy that any future-minded UK government should pursue."

The bodies urge the music industry to consider new ways of licensing  
and selling their music - such as through video games such as Guitar  
Hero - to make up for losses through file sharing.

Asked for a response, Marianna Annas, the general manager of the music  
industry's Australian anti-piracy arm, Music Industry Piracy  
Investigations, said the three-strikes scheme had been "greatly  
misperceived".

"It is not an aggressive policing regime which leads to an abrupt  
disconnection, but rather a fair means by which people engaging in  
illegal activity online are given a series of warnings, which may lead  
to eventual disconnection if their activities are not rectified," she  
said.

In addition to the musicians, producers and songwriters, British ISPs,  
academics and consumer groups also oppose the scheme.

Just as in Australia, they claim the scheme could result in a  
"kangaroo court" whereby innocent people are disconnected based on  
mere allegations of copyright infringement.

It is unclear exactly how much the music industry loses to file  
sharing, but a recent online survey of 2240 Australians found only 11  
per cent admitted to engaging in illegal downloading "frequently".

Just 2 per cent did it exclusively, while 15 per cent did it  
moderately and 20 per cent rarely.

More than 62 per cent of respondents bought music from a digital store  
in the past year, while 72 per cent bought a CD.

Other studies have shown that people who download music illegally are  
far more likely to pay for songs than those who don't.

This contradicts claims by the music industry that it loses hundreds  
of millions of dollars a year to file sharing.

These claims are usually based on the assumption that every illegally  
downloaded track is a lost sale.

The British Government came out with figures claiming 7 million  
Britons were illegal file sharers, but this was revealed by the BBC  
this week to be an extrapolation from responses of just 136 people.