The law on P2P file sharing: have your say

Tuesday 24 November 2009   |  2 Comments  |  

On the right you'll see our latest poll:
Should alleged illegal downloaders be disconnected before a fair trial?
Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling sums up the arguments here, but have your say by voting too – and we'd love to hear your views: why not share your thoughts by commenting below?

The minute Peter Mandelson was snapped being all pally with David Geffen on the music industry mogul's yacht back in August, it looked like the writing was on the wall for the P2P community. However, few predicted the proposed new anti-piracy laws would go quite as far as they have. In short, if the law is passed, those accused of illegal file sharing could have their broadband connection curtailed; meaning people could potentially have their internet put on hold while they prove themselves innocent.

If you're not familiar with terms such as P2P and file sharing, it is a process by which a group of people share files between themselves over an internet connection. There isn't a central point the files are downloaded from, hence the term P2P – peer to peer. All you need is one of the software programs freely available online, that are used to manage the downloads, and away you go.

During the global since and rise of the internet, the entertainment industry – namely the movie and music industries – has been feeling the pinch. And it's hardly surprising: with the latest torrent (the name given to the current P2P sharing mechanism) technology and the improvements in broadband speeds, you can now download an album in seconds and a TV episode in the time it takes to pour a nice glass of red and pop the popcorn in the microwave.

What makes it worse, and more common, is the disassociation with the normal feelings of doing something illegal. Much like when you you used to tape something off of the radio, or burn a CD for a friend to have a listen to, it simply doesn't feel the same as nipping down to HMV and putting a few albums and DVDs under your coat. But, for the artists involved, it amounts to a similar thing. Their artistic rights are being infringed, and the big boys are feeling it where it hurts them most – in the pocket.

It's not as if the broadband industry, and much of the internet community at large, would argue that these activities are wrong. It's against the law to illegally distribute copyrighted material and you'd be hard pushed to find someone working for an ISP that would tell you piracy was a good thing. However, much of P2P file sharing is perfectly legal – film clips, free music downloads, game updates – file sharing is not in itself intrinsically wrong. So how do you justify going against the norm within UK law, making people guilty before they are proved innocent?

Some will argue the broadband industry has had its chance, and that it was only a matter of time before the Government clamped down on file sharing – it certainly looked like self regulation was having little to no effect on illegal file sharing. The ISPs could be seen to have dragged their heals on dealing with piracy – but then the ISPs will argue the entertainment industries should've been working harder to adapt to advancing technology, finding ways to monetise their products online in a way Joe public would've accepted more readily.

TalkTalk feels so strongly about it, it has started a Downing Street petition against the proposal. So whose side are you on?

2 Comments  |