Stephen Fry confirms TalkTalk protest competition winner

Back in December, Stephen Fry agreed to judge a competition, launched by internet service provider TalkTalk, to protest against the proposed “Three Strikes” law.

Offering a prize of £3,000 for the most creative protest, the competition was open to any form of artistic expression, provided it could be accessed online.

This week, Fry confirmed a song written by Londoner Liam Mullone and sung by his friend Hils Barker had won the competition with their song Only Idiots Assume.

Available to hear above, the song is described by TalkTalk as being a “stinging attack on the Government’s plans to disconnect people suspected of watching films and music online without paying for the priviledge.”

Speaking on his decision to announced the song as the winning entry for the campaign hosted on www.dontdisconnect.us/category/winners/) Fry commented: “I am insanely in love with Only Idiots Assume. It’s got the anger, the wit, the musical skill – all in a wonderful package that reminds me of the high days of my youth when punk roamed the land and the young were angry and funny and spunky and spiky.”

Meanwhile, song writer Liam Mullone described the entry as a “ska-punk reply to Peter Mandelson.” He added: “Assuming that people with high download volumes are stealing stuff is like calling someone a witch because they have a black cat. It’s a medieval premise.”

TalkTalk is currently hosting a petition on the Number 10 website campaigning against the Government’s plans and has so far gathered over 32,000 signatures.

Whilst both TalkTalk and Stephen Fry have been keen to point out they do not support illegal downloading, both have been outspoken critics of the Government’s plans to disconnect people suspected of copyright infringement. Fry summed up the argument: “I’m not defender of systematic deliberate criminal downloading but in my estimation the government’s proposed ‘Three-Strike’ Copyright Protection Law is ill-conceived, constitutionally outrageous, morally unfair and epically foolish. This is not the way to protect and strengthen the creative music, film and TV industries – it is a way further to alienate and antagonise the very people on whom these industries depend.”

Last week, TalkTalk held an event for MPs and Peers set up to demonstrate why the system, designed to spot copyright infringement, could end up entrapping innocent customers.