Posted in Music & Music Players on June 3rd, 2010 by admin
The Digital Economy Bill has been passed as law in the UK, and it brings with it the famous “three strikes” rule for filesharers. Ofcom is working on proposals that would FORCE ISPs to keep records of people accused of illegal filesharing. If any one user is accused three times then they will be placed on a black list. Once a user is on this filesharing blacklist, interested parties can apply by court order to find their true identity. From there the obvious step is to take legal action against the filesharer.
The rule looks like it would be more efficient as a deterrent or scare tactic rather than as a legal ‘cure’: it doesn’t seem likely that publishing giants will want to bother themselves with the many lowly people that are likely to appear on this list (although, having said that, the lawyers involved really, really love to sue people). I guess it’s possible that the publishers will send letters asking for a quick out of court settlement of a fairly small sum of money. The majority of victims will likely pay up out of fear.
Is this is victory for filesharing? We don’t think so.