#cabinetforum
Lord Mandelson confirmed today his plans to implement a “three strikes” policy for “persistent illicit downloaders” (let’s not use the word “pirate”, shall we).
Pardon me if I feel this is a touch… foolish, but I think I’m justified in this position.
In the name of curbing the perceived death of the creative industries (which are thriving, incidentally, economic downturn notwithstanding), major rights-holders insist upon:
Implementing draconian DRM schemes which not only fail to reduce piracy, but impede activities of legitimate users and pushes them towards illicit downloads.
Lobbying governments for disconnection policies for “persistent offenders”, despite this plan being flawed on pretty much every level.
Let’s not forget that the music industry has seen record levels of singles sales, despite the aforementioned economic downturn.
Also bear in mind that, not only have the All Party Parliamentary Communications Group come out against a disconnection policy, but so have the Police and Security Services of all people.
So, yeah. Excuse me if I’m slightly annoyed by this utter perversity.
