Get your broadband through Virgin Media? If so, there’s a chance that you could be among the first people in the country to be disconnected from the internet for illegally downloading music.
Virgin look likely to become the first British ISP to enforce the ‘three strikes’ regime currently being lobbied for by record labels – a warning letter, followed by suspension from and then termination of internet access – in their fight to plug leaks in a fast-sinking ship.
The UK’s largest residential broadband supplier is working with the BPI on a pilot scheme that could see “dozens” of customers sent warning letters, reports the Telegraph. Dozens, you sneer? Yeah, but it’s the implication that ISPs are now, after two years of resistance, complicit in the process that you should be concerned about, companies like Virgin Media apparently prepared to violate the customer privacy of the people who provide them with most of their revenue.
"We have been in discussions with rights holders organisations about how a voluntary scheme could work,” confirmed a spokesman for Virgin Media. “We are taking this problem seriously and would favour a sensible voluntary solution," they continue, making reference to the legally-enforceable alternatives currently being considered by the government.
So, how would it work? The BPI has teams of technicians working to trace illegal downloading activity back to individual accounts, apparently. They would hand the account numbers over to ISPs who would then match them to names and addresses.
"This is not the time for ISPs to delay further,” BPI chief Geoff Taylor proclaimed. “Government clearly shares the creative community's frustration at the failure of ISPs to take action."
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you what?
“Government clearly shares the creative community's frustration at the failure of ISPs to take action."
errr..... yeh....
This is silly
Mostly because I'm on Virgin (OH FUCK! - I should probably download as much music as I can until then)
Also I've heard that Japan has becombe the first country to ban file sharing ful stop.
My god! What is the world coming to?
will definately lead to less people ordering their 'unlimited' packages
but most of the people that will get caught arethe soulseek/limewire kiddies.
Even then I'd argue that a sizable amount of users of soulseek aren;t downloading music that the BPI consider priority golden geese.
Most people who use emule/torrent sites heavily have ip blockers/redirectors.
I'm sure Virgin will try and make examples out of a couple of users before others follow suite
...
I'm still confused as to how they are going to determine between "illegal" downloading ,and legal blogs, websites etc
Plus as you say, this is a shocking intrusion of privacy. Next they'll be providing our surfing habits to insurance firms, banks etc. Looking at Cancer on wikipedia? Expect your life assurance quote to go up.....
I use Napster
This is getting pretty fucked up.
Even so, I have deceided to stop downloading as of tomorrow (1st of April). Now I need to convince my flatmate too.
Started buy CDs again, and the excitement to be had that I have missed when opening the packaging... wow!
I'm on Virgin :(
Oh well, the only things I download anymore are links people leak. Soulseek/Limewire/torrents etc, I don't trust.
Also, my finances are pretty decent right now, so I can afford to buy CDs anyway! Gonna get the new Elbow and Guillemots records soon. I prefer owning CDs than mp3s, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this. Need some proper CD shelves though, as my collection is getting too big for my bedroom shelves :(
Bastards.
I'm on Virgin Media.
But thankfully only for another two month, by the end of which I will have moved out.
I use rapidshare to download much of my music and to be honest, how can they tell the difference between legal and non-illegal activity on rapidshare?
I'll just start using a proxy or something, I'm sure that'll slow them up a bit!
time to switch to non-bpi downloading only then i guess
news just in:
money > happiness
apparently :/
Sounds ominous
In much the same way as ISPs seem to be complicit in price-fixing and anti-competitive or collusive tactics, you can be sure that they are all going to go into this together. Only new entrants to the business will use this as a selling point, the establised ISPs will tow the line. I use torrent communities mainly for downloads, but it just means that I need to investigate how to mask/redirect my IP and overcome any ISP port-blocking. The methods in which you can beat the system are still moving way faster than ISP response to P2P downloading. It's simply a problem they are reluctant to deal in unison. It's a business that centres on customer retention, not forced custoemr attrition.
How frustrating...
I download music because, 9 times out of 10 anyway, I am looking to buy the CD and/or go to a gig and would like a preview or the stuff.
I'll probably buy less music than I do now because of this, not more.
Its a shame that after the online success of acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Kate Nash etc. which has lead to actual financial 'success' in the eyes of the record industry, the BPI want to put an end to it all.
This will do more harm than good for new, up and coming bands who rely on filesharing to get their stuff heard.
mass amounts of people leaving virgin media then
i dont agree with file sharing per se, but it does in some cases encourage people to buy albums rather than not...
Most of the student houses around here
are on Virgin Media, not because they want to, but because it's too expensive to reconnect a BT line to get proper ADSL.
I don't know anybody who's with Virgin out of anything more than pragmatism. They're a truly awful ISP.
at least
it's a three-strikes warning system, rather than a "you're going straight to prison" scenario! i guess if you get a warning letter, better stop it!
the talk this time
seems to be of going after the downloaders rather than the filesharers, which is a first.
I have recently signed up to emusic.com after recommendations from DiS and have been really pleased with it. But the downside is the number of albums available. Until someone create a legitimate service where all music is available at a reasonable price (20p per song?) then this problem will still continue.
teams of technicians?
Since one expert said that the only organisation with the computing power sufficient to filter the ocean of downloads to sift out the illegal ones is GCHQ, I cant see that a couple of teams of technicians in the basement at the BPI are going to do much good.
Unless you're making yourself very visible by both seeding and downloading massive numbers of files, you're probably alright.
I'm making a huge assumption
but the typcial dis user wouldn#t have to change their habits. whatever they are.
THe labels that disers usually go for :
1) know about filesharing
2)often encourage it by leaking their releaes onto soulseek
4) it creates loyal fanbases who buy their vinyl/cds
Also, also soulseek was CREATED by people from planet mu in the first place!
Like I said, heavy torrent/emule users have their safeguards.
Everyone else deserve to be locked up for being so fucking stupid that they download massive amounts of illegal music so that they are noticed without any precautions.
oh no
im going to stop downloading immediately.....april fools! (i thought someone might as well take advantage)
i buy all the albums by any artist i feel earns my money, any album i like i always buy cause i like having the cd BUT i think if you re curious its ok to download to see if an album is ok, you shouldnt have to buy it first, you cant just go round wasting tenners....
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3265717.ece
that truckload of money thats just arrived in bonio's driveway is eemingly not enough.....