Quote:
The Digital Economy Bill, published today, is a further backward step in the efforts to reduce illegal filesharing while further threatening the rights of the consumer.
The Bill proposes that the Government can introduce new measures to punish people they think are infringing copyright without having to prove their case in court. This so-called secondary legislation side-steps any debate, oversight or public scrutiny.
“We don’t support copyright infringement in any way but we live in the real world and understand that no amount of policing and censorship will solve the problem,” said Charles Dunstone, CEO of TalkTalk Group. “It doesn’t matter how many websites are blocked, how many services are shut down or how many individuals are pursued, people will always find ways to access copyrighted content for free.
“There is an army of ‘Robin Hoods’ out there developing tools which allow completely undetectable access to content. No amount of monitoring can spot it. Shut one service down and twenty will pop up in its place.
“As things stand, victims of Wi-Fi hijacking will be caught in the cross-hairs while the most persistent offenders will remain undetected.
“Until now the proposed legislation could be best described as unwieldy and ill-conceived. In addition it now looks to deny people freedom of speech and infringe their basic human rights. Current legislation allows for people to be taken to court and a case proved against them before action is taken and that must be maintained. ’’
TalkTalk believes that to reduce illegal filesharing, music and film fans must be encouraged back to legal services through education and by making content available in a form and at a price that people find acceptable. TalkTalk’s research shows that over 85% of people think there is not enough legal music and film content available on the Internet at a fair price.
In the meantime TalkTalk makes these pledges to its customers:- Unless we are served with a court order we will not surrender your details to rightsholders. We are the only major ISP to have taken this stance and we will maintain it.
- We will continue to fight this draconian legislation as it makes its way through Parliament.
- If we are instructed to disconnect your account due to alleged copyright infringement we will refuse to do so and tell the rightsholders we’ll see them in court.
TalkTalk’s petition against the legislation and details of how you can make you voice heard can be accessed at www.dontdisconnect.us
|
Talktalk seem to have the right idea here. Rights holders just logging an IP of someone who has apparently infringed isn't enough. And disconnecting people without a trial is rediculous. This is definatly a u turn from what the goverment said a few months ago.
UK goverment copyright proposal infringes basic human rights
11-20-2009
UK goverment copyright proposal infringes basic human rights
