Some of you may be aware of the "three strikes" plan recently approved in France, where suspected copyright infringers are liable to be banned from the internet for up to a year if they persist after two warnings, and failed efforts to push similar laws across the entire EU a few months back.
Not content to be rebuffed, proponents of the laws have put them back on the table in Brussels, where they were set to be voted on yesterday. No news seems to be available online yet about how it went (any Europeans visitors have details on that?).
Is banning pirates from the internet going too far, or is it justified? It seems that no amount of DRM ever deters them for long, so perhaps cutting them off from their sources entirely would be the solution to large-scale piracy. Or maybe it just might drive them underground, and result in innocent users being banned on suspicions only. What do you guys think? Could this possibly work, or will it only make matters worse?
Sounds pretty difficult, and there could potentially be some false positives, but overall it could mean really good things for developers and in return legit gamers if it can be executed properly.
Wow another shining example of why politicians are a waste. Copyright is way out of control, not that there shouldn't be something but the way it is currently is just terrible.
I always considered piracy as a great tool for countering poor entertainment making, if something is worth it, most people tend to go out and buy it.
I have one worry, i use the internet to download episodes of battlestar galactica and so on (as their released in the US before they are over here), will these also be targetted by anti-piracy laws? I imagine they will be unfortunatley, as less people will naturally purchase the boxed DVD sets.
I think one counter to this, would be online TV channels, so you still get the adverts and the makers of the shows still get payed. I've noticed this with the likes of SkySports News (Rupert Murdochs Satellite sports channel over here in the UK), their web site has interviews with players and coaches etc. These are usually slotted between two adverts.
Thats not say though i won't just switch off while the adverts are on, or turn my attention on something more productive.
I think most people agree that you deserve to get payed for what you've done, but a lot of people have a hard time feeling sympathy for the thing we relate most to the entertainment industry, which is wealthy actors and directors living lifestyles we can only dream of. I know naturally that these people will be the last to feel any effect of piracy however and instead it may actually be cut backs on other members of staff in production companies etc. that will take the hit.
Finally on the issue of game companies, well i think if you take stardock as an example of how to handle piracy, that is to provide good support and updates to your products, but only if you are reigstered with them online, then you can see that if you just apply a bit of thinking and deliver a quality product and service, then you have very little to fear in regards to piracy.
Doubt it will go through and not something that would really be tolerated in any progressive free society. ISPs don't want to do anything that will destroy the trust with their customers. They have a hard enough time to keep them already, this will just completely chase them away.
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