Copyright Discussion
Miriam Rubin
7/7/2008
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/26/bt_bpi_letter/page3.html
The large broadband provider in the UK, BT, has threatened one of its costumers that she will lose Internet access if she continues to use her broadband access to download peer-to-peer illegal music. The ISP provider is joining hands with the music recording industry to fight piratical music downloads. BT claims that it does not need to monitor its customer’s internet activities in order to trace users of peer=to=peer downloads. The company is offering a three strikes you're out deal to those who are caught using their connection for illegal downloads.
Although I strongly agree with prosecuting users of peer-to-peer music sharing, I find BT's behavior in this case in strong violation of individual's rights to privacy. IN my opinion, it is not the place of an Internet Service Provider to enforce copyright laws. BT is overstepping its boundaries. BT states in their letter to their customer: " BPI will monitor for further infringements of copyright and, if further evidence is obtained of infringement via your internet connection, then further action is likely to be taken against you." Does the company have the right to monitor the on-goings of an individual? Is there a legal process that needs to be followed here? Perhaps a court order to obtain records of IP addresses which use peer-to-peer networks.? I am shocked that BT is legally allowed to act as a police force to monitor and penalize p2p users.
I believe that the UK government is on the right track in working on legalizing piracy software. They are committed to providing this service by the end of the year ( http://www.ç.co.uk/2008/06/26/music_service_provider_talks/ )This will allow people to pay a subscription fee and download as much music as they want. The service will be supported by ads and the declining revenues of the music industry will be boosted. On the surface, it seems like a win-win situation.
This idea will be a huge change in the way copyright laws work. Up until now, only the creator could legally distribute music. With the new method, the recorders and distributors will need to relinquish their rights to be a sole distributor of the music, as users share with each other. I am not sure how and who will keep track of which music was downloaded how many times in order to give artists their fair share, but the general idea seems sound, especially since 80% of people say they are willing to pay a subscription fee for such a service.