I wrote this on my lunch so it is very hastily put together so excuse my jumping from topic to topic, not fully citing sources and being very ranty in general. (You may gather I don’t like record companies or organizations like RIAA and IMRO)
To whom it may concern,
As published in the Sunday Business Post on 3rd of July http://thepost.ie/technology/reality-bytes-57179.html , Adrian Weckler says that a new law is in consultation period which would give power to the music industry to shut down websites who may be involved with file sharing. How can this be legal? You’re going to let private industry dictate what should and should not be seen on the internet? Disgraceful!
How about you protect the Irish consumer first? We don’t even have a fair use law in this country – so technically iTunes & Mp3 players are illegal! Also concert prices have gone through the roof here in the last ten years, we are currently one of the most expensive countries in Europe to attend a concert in – this is to make up for losses in music sales so I’d imagine this legislation will force the record companies to lower these prices also? Or are we gonna let the music industry have their cake and eat it too?
The draconian music industry in it’s current guise is in it’s death throes, why would the government step in to protect an industry like this – one that constantly screws over the little guy to squeeze every penny out of it’s musicians?
Let’s not forget the incompetence of ISP’s and IRMA already this year when they falsely accused 300 eircom customers of illegally downloading music, and we should trust these people to have a say in what sites they think should be on the internet?
http://torrentfreak.com/isp-wrongfully-sent-300-first-strike-letters-to-innocents-110617/
If you look at Minister Bruton’s intention with this review, you can see this change completely misses the point:
“The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton T.D. has decided to conduct a Review of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 to identify any problems that might be perceived to create barriers to innovation. The Review will seek submissions from interested parties and make recommendations to resolve any problems identified. The Minister expects to receive the Final Report from the Review Committee by the end of 2011.”
You wil notice that since the popularity of piracy has risen it is the only time in the music industry’s long history that it has really innovated and faced the fact that it has to change to meet this new digital world we live in, if it were up to the record companies we would still be buying CDs so they can make their mechanical royalties off the artists. Let’s not forget in the 80s we were told ‘Home taping is killing music’ yet sales went on to double through the 90s, and that piracy has shown to increase the likelihood of an album sale. Also is this really the right message to send out for this new Ireland the government talks about:
“Is your industry dying because times and technologies have moved on? Think you need to innovate? No! Don’t bother, just lobby the government to change the laws to suit your business model” – FG & Labour government
Let’s not forget how the record companies are happy to break the law when it suits them
(http://torrentfreak.com/warner-music-director-caught-in-piracy-110620/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal ) and that no money from a piracy payout has ever gone to an artist!
How long before we block Wikipedia because encyclopedia sales are down?
I would love to have a full conversation about this with you, as I believe the current government is completely uninformed regarding technology and the open nature of the internet and therefor it would be irresponsible to make these types of laws.
Regards,
Ross Mulcahy
Castleknock, Dublin 15