Open Rights Group | Event: Stop Mandelson's Disconnection Plans

Michael Holloway, 11 September 2009

Event: stop Mandelson's disconnection plans

Event - Stop Mandelson's Disconnection Plans

Fri 2 Oct, 2009 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm

The Crypt on the Green
St James Church, Clerkenwell, Clerkenwell Close
London, EC1R 0EA, UK

Cost: Free (for new joining supporters) - £15

Click through for event tickets.

Peter Mandelson is convinced that disconnecting filesharers will help the music and film industries. He's plain wrong. This extreme option would trample on the rights of internet users - and the rights of their families - without earning a penny for musicians and film-makers. It is clear that Mandelson does not understand the extent to which an internet is now a basic household service, as important as electricity or gas, without which people are handicapped in their ability to work, function, and participate in society.

Open Rights Group, as part of our campaign against the policy of disconnection, is holding a debate on better approaches for public policy and the entertainment industry.

Gerd Leonhard (Media Futurist) will kick off with a presentation on the future of music, media and entertainment. Ben Goldacre (Guardian / Bad Science) will then join Gerd on a panel, chaired by our Executive Director, Jim Killock, to take questions from the audience.

Entry to this special event is free to new supporters who join between now and the event. Existing ORG supporters will be charged a discount rate of £10 and the general public will be asked for the full price of £15. Walk-ups will be charged £25.

Click through to join ORG.

Stop disconnection

TheLondoneer

Sounds Good
Reply #6 on : Fri September 18, 2009, 15:26:45

And I'm sure it will be well-attended, but will there be some balance on the panel?

Mind you, thinking about it, finding someone who actually supports the 3 strikes rule might be quite difficult if Mandy isn't prepared to be there in person...

Will try to find time to come along if I can :)

Jim Killock

Gerd is from the business
Reply #5 on : Fri September 18, 2009, 15:41:04

Gerd is a former producer and co-author of the The Future of Music ... he certainly believes in getting music businesses to work. Maybe he has a different approach from the people at the top of the rights holding companies, but he's interesting because he's concentrating on the key problem of ensuring remuneration of artists.

It might be interesting to invite the BPI! They'd be welcome to attend of course.

Last Edit: September 30, 2009, 15:49:23 by Jim

Ben

An Internet!
Reply #4 on : Fri September 18, 2009, 16:53:26

"Mandelson does not understand the extent to which an internet is now a basic household service"

Series of tubes, anyone?

Hubert

Three Strikes is not enough
Reply #3 on : Fri September 25, 2009, 12:03:57

The Music Industry loses very little from copyright infringement in the illegal downloading of creative material.

The Music Industry loses a lot from the CD Production, Distribution and Physical Media management.

The first situation is indefensible. The second situation is lamentable - but industries change or perish. Ask the Miners.

what the Music and Film Industries are protecting: not the Artists but the Middlemen.

Strike one: the Music and Film industries have spent almost a decade ignoring the capacity for their clients creative efforts to be digitised and distributed as electricity and magnetic patterns.

Strike two: the Music industry has vast back catalogues that are not on release - against the best interests of their clients. Maximising their clients' income through effective use of catalogues would be a more equitable action that fits their duty of care to their clients than speculative prosecutions of Internet users.

Strike three: the Music and Film industries frequently "prosecute" and "settle out of court". This is little more than the actions of opportunistic and vexatious litigants. By coopting ISP's into the "managmement" of the Industrial Production Rights (which do not exist) on the basis that an Internet user might be infringing a Creative Copyright, the Music and Film industries are ensuring their vexatiousness is supported by the manufacture of circumstantial evidence.

Lord Mandelson might consider those three strikes.

Lord Mandelson might also consider the fact that ISP's do not know the content of files that are transported on their networks unless they look inside the file. As with the Phorm monitoring of Internet Traffic, this is not something that ordinary Internet users are likely to be tolerant of.

These industries are demanding that the legal frameworks and practices be changed to accommodate their industrial failings. It is not a demand for the punishment of the genuinely guilty but a telishment upon those whose volume of data exceeds the "fair use" policy determined by ISP pricing models.

Barry Streater

Re: Event: Stop Mandelson's Disconnection Plans
Reply #2 on : Thu October 01, 2009, 05:49:24

Peter Mandelson is convinced that stopping thieves will help the householder. He's plain wrong. This extreme option would trample on the rights of receivers of stolen goods - and the rights of their families - without earning a penny for householders. It is clear that Mandelson does not understand the extent to which stolen goods are now a basic source of income, as important as a normal person’s wages, without which people are handicapped in their ability to take drugs, lie in bed until twenty-to-two in the afternoon, and meet their fellow crooks.

Jim Killock

Barry, that's uncalled for
Reply #1 on : Fri October 02, 2009, 09:35:50

Barry

We are arguing clearly for the whole music industry to get paid. For monetising music through services consumers want, through licensing that enables those services.

Our point is simple: infringement is a symptom of a failed licensing system and you can't cure problems by dealing with symptoms.

We need an open market to deliver the services we need, and we don't have it.

It's a very Old Testament approach to the net, rather eye for an eye, to disconnect people for copyright offences, don't you think?

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