BT in court over piracy-blocking injunction

The current rash of Super-Injunctions...

..shows how gagging and censorship legislation, now matter how right, or well intententioned to start, soon becomes abused and dangerous.

How long before a Chinese corporate wants an anti-goverment site closed down here and gets the courts to make ISP's be their whipping boys?

This is a dangerous and slippery slope.

By cheysuli on 28 Jun 2011

"lobbying the Government"

Almost all lobby groups in every country consist of greedy men trying to rape the rest of the population for every penny they can get their hands on.
This is tantamount to a police officer asking you if you know of any illegal activities in the area, you point some out, and then he arrests you for knowing where they are.
Providing information is not a crime, the act of hosting or downloading copyrighted material is to some extent, but i think the act's should be updated to reflect the modern world, and unlike the Digital economy act, be in favour of the citizen rather than the corporation.
Or Maybe they should just stop putting out so much utter rubbish, then people might feel like paying for it.

By Spyderco on 28 Jun 2011

I've said this before, blocking these sites will do **** all to those who are determined to pirate.

Piracy will always happen, rather than creating the great firewall of Britain they should concentrate on trying to convert as many pirates as possible e.g. making stuff worth buying, not making ego-filled vomit inducing "thanks for buying this" or "don't pirate this" adverts which pirates don't have to watch, etc.

By tech3475 on 28 Jun 2011

If you were a manufacturer, and 50% of your stock was getting stolen before it was sold, what would you do?

You wouldn't be impressed by people saying your product was 'not worth the money' or implying that trying to stop people stealing it was infringing on their rights.

[Sits back and prepares to be flamed for supporting copyright]

By Stiggy on 28 Jun 2011

This Great Firewall Of Britain crap...

The ACS:Law and Gallant Macmillan/Ministry of Sound debacles have led me to take a very dim view of rights owners. A very dim view indeed.

It seems to me that the simple solution to all of this Great Firewall Of Britain crap is to subscribe to a VPN service like Strong VPN which makes it easier to steal copyrighted material and elude detection.

I should add that personally I have no interest in stealing copyrighted material, but at the same time because of their behaviour I have no desire to line the pockets of rights owners who alienate their audience.

By revsorg on 28 Jun 2011

"The MPA said it was taking the action because it could see no other way to close down Newzbin."

Are you serious, we couldn't do it outselves, so will sue someone else because we're blithering idiots. Class, absolute class.

By treadmill on 28 Jun 2011

I Was in Ignorance...

....about the existence of Newzbin 'til I read this article.

I re-iterate and precis previous comments that I, for one, have made:

Content providers, your market place has shifted. Time to review the business model. The majority of folk will happily pay up if the price is fair. Rip off pricing will destroy you. It isn't necessary to convert 'net of sales tax' US$ prices directly into 'free of VAT' UK£ prices just because your product has crossed the Atlantic. etc. etc.

By jontym123 on 28 Jun 2011

@ jontym123

Yay, I'm with you 100% on this.

Its not only their marketing, its the incredible monopolies over the creative arts as well. They control what we see and listen to...It' very hard for new creative talent to establish themselves outside of that monolithic market dominance.

PS. I have visited Newzbin, but I didn't inhale...

By Kevin000 on 28 Jun 2011

@stiggy...

That is the age old extremely flawed and rehashed bovine excrement that has been peddled by the people making films and music since the VCR and Cassette recorder got invented....


"would you steal a car??
Would you steal an old ladies handbag?
Would you steal blah blah?"

Answer: No I wouldn't, and I wouldn't walk into HMV and walk out with a DVD without paying either.

But I would probably download one or two occasionally if such things were possible.


And the fact that year after year they have blockbuster box office records tells me they arn't being adversely affected by it either.

**********************
More on topic...

The real issue I have with these types of things is that it is useless, you can not block people seeing what they want to on the internet. period.

I say this every time one of these articles comes up...

If china can't stop people seeing what they want, we have absofrikkinlutely no chance in hell of being able to achieve it.

It worries me that people in this day and age who seemingly have some influence on the way our world is going, have zero understanding of how the internet works.

This will just be a big waste of money and cause people a bit of hassle until they figure how to get round it.


Just to reiterate: you can not stop anybody getting to any site at all.

Their is already many sites that are blacklisted by ISP's, google, and many other places.

But with just the tiniest bit of googling you can get to them if you know the address or IP.

By the way, I had never heard of newzbin until today.

By Anonymouse on 28 Jun 2011

@stiggy

Try looking up the word "steal" in a dictionary.

It says to permanently deprive some one of property.

If some one downloads, say, a movie or music which they would not otherwise have purchased they are not depriving any one of either the property or any revenue.

In fact, after downloading something like a movie or music the downloader may think it was so good that they go out and buy it. Something they would not have done if they had not downloaded it in the first place.

The fat cat media companies should wake up and realise that they can no longer get away with producing rubbish at top prices by thinking that after the customer has bought it and seen/heard it, it's too late to do anything about it when it turns out to be utter rubbish.

By shrek59 on 30 Jun 2011

Realise when you are beaten...and switch sides

Newzbin have something pretty fantastic going on, and in my opinion aren't actually doing anything wrong. The MPA should stop chasing these guys and trying to beat them with a stick. Instead of spending all that money on legal fees, they should offer Newzbin the olive branch and work with them. The MPA have a lot to learn. In 5 years time, we'll all be receiving our digital content via a site exactly like Newzbin. Why don't the MPA jump on the bandwagon early, set the trend and join the 21st century. Shall I go out and spend £20 on a blu-ray disc....or shall I download it for free? Simply throw in the option to download it for even half the price of a disc and I know which one I'd choose.

By steadyeddy on 30 Jun 2011

@Stiggy: I'd try to find out why people are stealing my work.

If it was because I wasn't giving them the content when they wanted it I'd make sure they got it on release day for a fiver. If they're downloading it because they can't get it in their area, then again, £5 or £20 for the series/album.

Currently the use of 'copyright' has nothing to do with copyright at all. it has everything to do with controlling the market. It's a daft practice. Hollywood blockbuster comes out, young family want to watch it but can't due to chilcare/baby/late showing, but they're happy to pay to stream it and keep a DVD copy. They don't awnt encryption as they know it doesn't play well with their kit.

Honest customer, legitimate reason, able and willing to pay. They can't see the film because of protectionism dressed up as 'copyright'. But there' the film, waiting to download. They want to pay, but they want it when they want it, un DRMd. The media industry simply won't change it's ways.

By bubbles16 on 30 Jun 2011