Big Bother to watch illegal file sharers

[Thanatos]

Big brother to watch illegal file sharers - tech - 24 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

UK residents illegally sharing music and films online will receive letters warning them their behaviour is being monitored, under a new government plan drawn up with the country's six biggest internet service providers. Letters will be sent during a three-month trial, warning downloaders that they are being monitored. Many of the letters will be sent to parents unaware their children are sharing files online. More than 6 million Britons are thought to illegally download files each year. The telecommunications regulator Ofcom will work with ISPs and media companies to decided on a course of action should the warnings have no effect. Options may include a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" system, or filtering to prevent illegal tracks from being downloaded. The government and ISPs Virgin Media, BSkyB, Carphone Warehouse, BT, Orange and Tiscali say they are aiming for a "significant reduction" in the illegal sharing of content. Fee warning Media reports suggest the government would levy a £30 fee on every internet connection to compensate music and film companies, if the letter-writing scheme fails to cut illegal file sharing.

Thoughts on filesharing? Is this the end for Brits? Is it about time or has the UK government overstepped its boundaries?

[Wolfgang]

thats rediciulous

[HelioPrime]

The internet isn't some free space where you should be able to spread any information you've got wether you legally got it or not.

Besides, just letters to parents should be enough for plenty of the youth crowd. I'd hardy call it a police state if were just letting mum and dad know that your downloading music and porn illegally

[Walrus]

Use a proxy server.

[Chaossaber314]

"Or else what?"
"We'll send you a letter informing you of how upset we are with you."

[tinybear]

In Hong Kong, the court will order the ISPs to disclose the identities of all the file sharers to enable the copyright owners to sue. In addition to that anyone who uploads copyright material to be shared will face criminal prosecution. How does that grab you?

[Gods_Mercenary]

Makes me happy that I'm in the U.S., where an external hard drive will help.

[loser]

An external hd will help only if you dl away from home and remember to bury it in your yard every night. If you're like most Americans, you probably don't think you pirate enough to warrant a warrant to search your home (and home computers). More than likely, they would come at a time when you're not home and find a copy of Dark Knight sitting on top of your DVD player.

As far as proxy is concerned, exactly how safe could that be when the powers that be come to get you? I doubt that proxy servers leave you completely trackless. Besides that, if you burn pirated software, it's traceable and, once again, the tiny little DVD disc could be your weakest link.

Also, I don't think that it is the porn industry or the music industry that is flexing it's muscles...it's the major motion film industry...movies like Dark Knight just aren't making enough money at the theaters...

What's next? Cracking down on people who share video rentals (the old-fashioned way)? Then, sharing the movies that you actually bought (the same old-fashioned way, hand to hand)? How about movies recorded off of premium movie channels like Showtime and Cinemax...can that be next?

[Thanatos]

Quote by: loser An external hd will help only if you dl away from home and remember to bury it in your yard every night. If you're like most Americans, you probably don't think you pirate enough to warrant a warrant to search your home (and home computers). More than likely, they would come at a time when you're not home and find a copy of Dark Knight sitting on top of your DVD player. As far as proxy is concerned, exactly how safe could that be when the powers that be come to get you? I doubt that proxy servers leave you completely trackless. Besides that, if you burn pirated software, it's traceable and, once again, the tiny little DVD disc could be your weakest link. Also, I don't think that it is the porn industry or the music industry that is flexing it's muscles...it's the major motion film industry...movies like Dark Knight just aren't making enough money at the theaters... What's next? Cracking down on people who share video rentals (the old-fashioned way)? Then, sharing the movies that you actually bought (the same old-fashioned way, hand to hand)? How about movies recorded off of premium movie channels like Showtime and Cinemax...can that be next?

If you hide your pirated files in an encrypted hard drive you can be reasonably well protected. They have the tools to break them if they really mean it but those tools are usually busy with high priority cases.

As for proxies, it can be done but your connection will be slowed to a snail's pace. If you've incurred the wrath of somebody who will have no moral problems bugging your computer and watching it on your end you have a problem, but that's not how it normally works.

[Rog]

Quote by: Thanatos Big brother to watch illegal file sharers - tech - 24 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech Thoughts on filesharing? Is this the end for Brits? Is it about time or has the UK government overstepped its boundaries?

Makes one want to move to China.