French internet bans & Spanish taxes on media

[greytop]

France is tightening up (http://http://www.abc.es/20080619/tecnologia-internet/francia-sancionara-descargas-ilegales_200806190300.html) punishments (warning followed by disconnection from the internet if they persist) for those found to be downloading illegally. They optimistically (?) think this will reduce such practices 70-80%.

Spain meanwhile adds to the list (http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/390925/0/canon/digital/gobierno/) of things we pay performing rights charges on to include mobile phones and MP3 players as well as all blank media & recording devices.
Blank paper to be next? ;) I use mine to copy bits of books onto. Then there's pens, pencils etc.
Anyone know how they distribute this to the wronged authors, songwriters, performers and other copyright owners - or is it another hidden tax?

[gary]

Yes the French fiercely defent their music industry by insisting that the radio stations pay a substantial percentage of French Language recordings, the internet is a way for the young to circumvent their legislatian and play the foreign, ie English Language stuff they crave.

Paying rights charges on blank media is an interesting case - be interesting to see someone taken to court for copying and use the "Ive paid for the rights" defense...

[Pepino]

Disgusting. And they have the gall to claim it´s the public who are on the rob. We´re all being treated as criminals in advance.

Go ahead and copy, I say! Fill yer boots. You´ve paid for the priviledge it seems.

[Ben]

Most people in Spain take this approach now - we are being taxed as if we were criminals, so we might as well download, copy etc...

[deecree]

It's not possible to download illegally. Copyright infringement is a civil matter - its unfortunate that the movie and music industries have convinced the world's governments to enforce civil laws for them.

Yes, the fee you pay on blank media goes to the record companies. It's the artists that don't see a penny of it.

[gary]

Disgusting. And they have the gall to claim it´s the public who are on the rob. We´re all being treated as criminals in advance.

Go ahead and copy, I say! Fill yer boots. You´ve paid for the priviledge it seems.

I dont download music - too old and grumpy now radio 4's my barrow - but I echo this sentiment -you are paying for something you are presumed to have done - no contract makes you pay not to do something...

crazy

[ValenciaSon]

I couldn't convince my 81 year old father of the merits of an iPod for music listening. He wanted me to buy songs on iTunes and burn CDs. For father's day I got him an iPod Shuffle and loaded it with his musical preferences. My mom says he can't stop playing with it. Now he wants me to tell him more about the iPhone. The tree doesn't fall to far from the Apple;)

[Edith]

France is tightening up (http://http://www.abc.es/20080619/tecnologia-internet/francia-sancionara-descargas-ilegales_200806190300.html) punishments (warning followed by disconnection from the internet if they persist) for those found to be downloading illegally. They optimistically (?) think this will reduce such practices 70-80%.

Spain meanwhile adds to the list (http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/390925/0/canon/digital/gobierno/) of things we pay performing rights charges on to include mobile phones and MP3 players as well as all blank media & recording devices.
Blank paper to be next? ;) I use mine to copy bits of books onto. Then there's pens, pencils etc.
Anyone know how they distribute this to the wronged authors, songwriters, performers and other copyright owners - or is it another hidden tax?

I wish they would get their priorities right. >:D Why not focus on terrorism, the trade in sex slaves, kiddie porn, and organized crime?

[Ben]

I wish they would get their priorities right. >:D Why not focus on terrorism, the trade in sex slaves, kiddie porn, and organized crime?Agreed. But also, why not make it so easy for us to pay for and download content as soon as it is available, that we don't have to steal it?

Imagine a new film comes out on DVD in the States. One day later (or even three weeks earlier), you can download a perfect copy of that film here in Spain via the torrent sites. It's a pain to then get that film onto your big TV (so I hear), but once you do, there you go: you are enjoying the film or TV show right now that won't appear here for another 3 months due to stupid licensing agreements.

If they made it as easier for people here to get new films and TV shows legally and immediately, they would be more likely to pay rather than going through the hassle of fiddling around with the illegal methods.

iTunes did this with music downloads. I get all my new music from there now as it is just so much easier, quicker, and more reliable (no dodgy copies etc).

Hollywood: Please bring instant, reasonably priced, film and TV downloads to the worldwide stage - the mechanisms are in place, people are already using them - just make it possible for everyone to do it legally!

[Edit: this may not work with teenagers, who will still download stuff illegally just because - same way we used to make tapes of records for our mates!]