Britain Cracks Down On Music Piracy
By: John Vinson
Oh, Napster how you’ve changed the world of electronic media. It used to be the line between legal/illegal forms of obtaining music was very apparent. There was tapes or CDs that you bought in store or you got bootlegs that were cheaper from street vendors. Now that downloading music has almost if not already turned into the norm for obtaining music the fight against piracy has gotten rather bloody.
In the United States, there have been task forces that have rooted out thousands of illegal downloaders. Although there have been arrests, there hasn’t been any massive scale plan like the one Britain is enforcing. The first part of the plan seems like a psychological front, as the government will be sending out hundreds of thousands of letters to suspected downloaders. While a letter might not sound like much, but it’s the government’s second step that is harsh while being rather intrusive. If there are illegal file-sharers that are found that have downloaded an extensive amount of music then the government is ready to slow those users’ broadband connection.
The government has been wanting to implement these measures for a few years, but it’s taken awhile for the ISPs to get onboard. All of the six major ISP networks have agreed to the government’s measures which is why the scale of the assault is so massive. Besides warning people and slowing their connections, ISP’s have dedicated to finding better ways to provide users with legal means to download music.
Everytime the debate over music piracy comes up I can’t help but think of the South Park episode featuring the issue. If we don’t crack down on things now then there’s a chance that Britney Spears won’t be able to have that custom diamond crusted, gold plated bathtub installed that she wanted.