James Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corps. European and Asian operations has made some interesting comments this week in regards to piracy, calling on governments to “get tough” on illegal downloading.
“We need enforcement mechanisms and we need governments to play ball … There is no difference with going into a store and stealing Pringles or a handbag and taking this stuff. It’s a basic condition for investment and economic growth and there should be the same level of property rights whether it’s a house or a movie,” said Murdoch. “The idea that there’s a new consumer class and you have to be consumer-friendly when they’re stealing stuff. No. There should be the same level of sanctity as there is around property. Content is no different. They’re not crazy kids. No. Punish them.”
James Murdoch is the son of mogul Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corp, and younger Murdoch is expected to take over the company when his father retires.
Adding to what his father has said in the past, James said News Corp. will act against “content aggregators,” including search giant Google, in order to protect its copyrights.
“We’re being very careful legally to protect our rights,” says Murdoch, via Guardian. “If there’s money getting stuck it’s getting stuck in an inefficient distribution layer … where Google and Yahoo are suddenly indexing copyright material and then selling bits of it and making money from it. You may have to withdraw access to those things. You may not.”
Result for: illegal downloading
A meeting that was called for British musicians to discuss UK government proposals on how to tackle illegal file sharing has come to a consensus that file-sharers should have their bandwidth “squeezed” for persistent copyright infringement. The congregation of more than 100 artists came to the agreement that file sharers should not have their Internet accounts suspended.
Artists including Lily Allen, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason signed a statement. It calls for two warning letters to be issued to users when they are caught sharing music illegally before their bandwidth speeds are restricted for certain purposes.
The idea would be to “render sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic e-mail and web access functional.” Lily Allen, who was the target of quite a large amount of criticism for running her mouth on the issue while technically breaching copyright law on the exact same website, was applauded by the audience for her campaign to “alert music lovers to the threat that illegal downloading presents to our industry.”
Jim Killock, executive director of digital rights activists the Open Rights Group, said that the artists had addressed the symptom, but not the cure, adding that the only answer was to “license products to compete with file-sharing.” However, he said major labels are being too cautious to approve some new services.
Result for: illegal downloading
Virgin Media ISP and the British Photographic Institute (BPI) have begun sending out a fresh batch of letters to customers who they suspect are participating in the unauthorized downloading of music and movies.
These customers will receive an ‘informative correspondence” from both Virgin and the BPI which will “educate them on how to safely download music without being at risk of legal action.”
The BPI, unlike other organizations like the RIAA, does not believe in suing users before they have at least received ample warnings, and acknowledges that some of the unauthorized downloads may have been done without the owners knowledge or consent. Unsecured wireless, children, and other family members using the computer without owner knowledge were the reasons given.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, added: ‘Education is absolutely key to reducing the extent of illegal downloading and we are pleased to be working with Virgin Media on this campaign.’
The BPI however also notes that anyone who receives several warnings but “continues to offend” will have their Internet account cut off by the ISP and face legal consequences.
