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Rule Britannia - Three Strikes and You're Out?

By Howard Knopf

Rumours reported in no less than The Times of London indicate:

People who illegally download films and music will be cut off from the internet under new legislative proposals to be unveiled next week.

Internet service providers (ISPs) will be legally required to take action against users who access pirated material, The Times has learnt.

Here's the whole story, which is based upon a "leak" of a forthcoming green paper.

This would be a "three strikes" policy and one of the disturbing aspects of the story is that the ISPs have actually been negotiating with Hollywood?s biggest studio and distribution companies.

The IPKat rightly "wonders whether, once unlawful downloaders are cut off, there will be enough people left online to make the internet worthwhile."

I wonder whether the UK may have forgotten about the Magna Carta, which predates the RIAA and IFPI by almost 800 years.

Maybe the current UK government regards the Magna Carta and all that stuff about rule of law, due process, etc. as an outdated business model.

Which is exactly how many people who love music but not necessarily the music industry would describe the big four record companies today.

HK

Full post as published by Excess Copyright on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).