The big file-sharing hoo-ha

A lot has happened in the world of media piracy since our interview with the Swedish Pirate Party's MEP Christian Engstrom. First the music world seems to be in a state of civil war at the moment with multiple factions disagreeing upon what should happen to file-sharers once they are caught illegally downloading and sharing music. On one side you have artists such as Lily Allen and Gary Barlow supporting the recent government proposals to fine and ban persistent file-sharers from the Internet. They argue that filesharing is destroying British music and stops young bands making it in a competitive industry.

While on the other, you have Billy Bragg and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead condemning the proposals. They worry that they run the risk of alienating their fan-base with the high profile law suits that would surely follow and which have already damaged several bands reputations in the eyes of their fans after past cases. Metallica are a band who are often spoke of in hissing tones after the Napster case in 2001 which some argue they have never recovered from.

To add to the fray, three music groups decided to weigh in on the action earlier this month when the government announced it's plans in the Digital Britain report which originally came out in June 2009 with an added consultation dedicated to the file-sharing dilemma that was released in August. The Featured Artists Coalition along with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the Music Producers Guild all issued a joint press release stating that they "vehemently oppose" the proposals to punish file-sharers. A big turn around from the music industry's previous stance however it was not a sentiment shared by the record labels themselves who along with the film industry and trade union organisation the Creative Coalition Campaign welcomed the Digital Britain's consultation suggestions with open arms.

In the end a meeting was arranged between the artists and they came to an agreement that perhaps it was best to simply slow down serial music file-sharers Internet connection rather than disconnect them from the Internet. However there is still some unease amongst music artists that even this toned down suggestion would still have a detrimental effect on them.

Internet Service Providers have also been wary of the proposals as it would mean added work for them policing their networks and loss of revenues as they would have to cut off their own customers as well as the cost of catching file-sharers. And no one wants to risk their bread and butter. Talk Talk shared the worry of many digital rights campaigners, that cutting people off from the Internet would breach human rights legislation as well as open them up to law suits in the future as file-sharers fought back.


Although if one loser of the week had to be chosen it had to be Lily Allen as she didn't exactly come out the argument shining after it was revealed she was doing exactly what she was demanding be shut down - sharing other artist's music without permission on her website. File-sharing campaigners reacted with glee at the revelation that Allen was sharing mix tapes on her site with her own songs as well as other artists material many of whom where not associated with Allen's own record label EMI. Lily Allen has since announced she intends to give up making music in what can only be described as throwing a tantrum after being caught out. The offending mix tapes have also been taken down from the site, presumably after EMI executives had a heart attack at the possibility of getting what they wished for and a large bill from other rival record labels. A classic throwing stones in glass houses incident depending on where you stand on the whole argument

Its a tightrope for all, as the artists, record companies, film industry, ISP's and the file sharers all have a lot to lose as it all boils down to one thing: money. So the question to be asked now is. Is it time to legalise file-sharing in the UK? Should the UK have a system like Canada where personal use file-sharing is tolerated? Who knows but this fight looks set to rumble on and get uglier as time goes by.