

Illegal file-sharing policy criticised by BT boss - RiderOfGiraffes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8559059.stm

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patio11
This is not too surprising, since piracy is the killer app for broadband.
(Similar to Apple's promotion of "Mix, rip, burn" -- Apple has iTunes to be
able to pretend that their hipster twenty-somethings are filling those
gigabytes with tens of thousands of dollars of legitimately purchased music --
and Youtube.)

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rimantas
Pretend or not iTunes is #1 music store in US.

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rmc
Just because iTunes is the most popular music store in the USA does not mean
that most of the music on iPods in the USA comes from iTunes.

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binarymax
Interesting...although it is obvious that if BT were required to terminate the
contract of anyone who ever downloaded a song or movie, they'd be out a large
stack of cash.

Livingston would much rather keep the contracts (and the money). And the gov
should be happier with another tax.

But can you imagine how jammed up the courts would be if everyone fought it
(which they would)?

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yungchin
> Livingston would much rather keep the contracts

Sure, but regardless of his motives, his line of reasoning can stand on its
own very well: to continue the speeding-fine parallel, you would need very
direct evidence of someone speeding before you could take their driver's
license away. Many people depend on net-connectivity for their income, in the
same way that many depend on their driver's license - thus it shouldn't be too
easy to cut anyone off.

> But can you imagine how jammed up the courts would be if everyone fought it
> (which they would)?

It depends - as long as the amount fined is reasonable, the cost and effort of
appealing would stop people in most cases. On the other hand, if the rights-
holders would be unreasonable about it, by pushing the fines too far or
disregarding fair-use, they'd find themselves in court all the time - which is
arguably a good thing.

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binarymax
Good points. In retrospect I think it would be pretty easy to beat a fine.
Imagine the following scenario:

\- I download the song 'Happy Birthday' illegally \- I get caught and get a
fine, which I have the option of appealing in court (lets say the fine is
something outrageous like £500) \- I option to appeal but before the court
date I go to HMV and buy a single of 'Happy Birthday' for £5, and scratch it
up a bit so it doesnt look shiny new. \- I get to court with my CD and say "I
already legally owned a copy of the song, but its all scratched so I
downloaded it"

Strange thing is, you beat the fine but the record company still gets your £5
for the purchase (and you keep your copy)...so minus the hassle, everyone
wins.

