Official Ares Free Download

  “Mystery” surrounds the decision to uninvite the Featured Artists Coalition from a Digital Economy Bill dog-and-pony-show — sorry, debate — organised by The Telegraph and Virgin Media, says MusicWeek.

“A panel of digital experts, including UK Music chief executive Feargal Sharkey, shadow minister for culture Ed Vaizey and FAC acting chief Jeremy Silver, had been due to take part in an online discussion about the key issues raised by the legislation,” says the story.

ISP Virgin has just has just announced it’ll introduce DPI spyware that “analyses anonymous ISP traffic data” to supply information on the total volume of file-sharing” p2pnet posted yesterday.

UK Music? “No industy spin. No hidden agenda. The online music scene by the people in it.”and – it claims, with Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s BPI (British Phonographic Industry) , the Association of Independent Music, the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, the MCPS-PRS Alliance, the Music Managers Forum, the Music Publishers Association and the Musicians Union and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) as members.

But why dump the FAC?  After all, Jeremy Silver chaired the meeting which led to loud Allen-inspired Featured Artists Coalition support of the entertainment cartel Three Strikes anti-P2P, anti-file sharing, anti-consumer effort under which people said to be ‘illegal’ file sharers  would be warned twice, and then thrown off the net.

“However as the debate, organized by The Telegraph and Virgin Media, neared it seems someone took exception to Silver’s involvement and his invitation was rescinded,” says MusicWeek.

Interestingly, bearing in mind the negatively weighted composition of the panel, “as many critics have pointed out, the key thrust of the bill appears to be safeguarding the interests of last century’s businesses rather than paving the way for the 21st century’s innovators to create the next generation of successful enterprises,” says Telegraph tech editor Claudine Beaumont in a piece introducing the Digital Economy Bill dog-and-pony-show — sorry, debate.

She went on »»»

One of the key sticking points is undoubtedly the policy that will see the broadband connections of suspected persistent illegal filesharers throttled or suspended. It would also give the secretary of state almost unheard of powers to move the goalposts of copyright laws and antipiracy legislation without any of the checks and balances traditionally provided by Parliament.

Internet service providers are fuming at the Bill’s proposed “watchdog” role for their industry, where they would be obliged to turn over lists of filesharing violations to copyright holders. ISPs have long argued that they should be seen as conduits of information in the same way as the Royal Mail is, and have been reluctant to police their networks in this way. And they won’t be taking on this role for free. Expect internet costs to rise as ISPs invest in new departments and personnel to oversee this web-monitoring exercise.

Despite the bluster of the Digital Britain report, and the extensive consultation with stakeholders to craft and shape legislation that struck the right balance between protection and innovation, few people seem happy with the Bill.

Meanwhile, FAC director Billy Bragg recently told Canadian politicians it’s time to start “really trying to reach out to the P2P community”.

They are “probably the most important aspect  of how our industry will develop,” he said recently, going on:

“What they choose to do and how we work with them will I think define what the industry looks like.

“If we continue to go down the line of criminalising them I think technologically they’ll always be one step ahead  a generation.”

Talking to the P2P  community “is really crucial,” Bragg stressed, pointing out he’s  the co-founder of  a2f2a.com, set up to spark two-way dialogue between musicians and their fans.

Could it be the FAC as a whole is close to realising the error of its ways?

Definitely stay tuned.

Meanwhile, a second reading of the Digital Economy Bill is due to take place on December 2.

Jon Newton - p2pnet

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