Does the French President Sarkozy have a secret wish to self-destruct, or to lead France out of the European Community? Maybe this is the reason that the ludicrous 3 strikes idea keeps surfacing in France, see the coverage by TelecomTV below (and the other links).
But here is the real morsel (from The Register UK): "France's Ministry of Culture estimates that 1,000 people a day could be cut off from the internet under the bill. After first being sent a warning email and then a formal letter by
Hadopi, those accused of illegal file- sharing for a third time could be
disconnected for up to a year and face a €300,000 fine and jail time. Even those found guilty of "negligence" for allowing others (such as
their children) to pirate online material risk a month-long internet
suspension and a €1,500 fine..."
Maybe I am wrong but I can't imagine that these kinds of ideas are very popular with the voters, no matter what the business problems and the lack of innovation within the content industry are. Sure, politicians can have nice dinners with the music industry VIPs and smart lobbyists, and get VIP concert tickets, but this will not help them to get re-elected when the time comes.
But before that, action is required, because unfortunately the same debate is also raging in the UK. So if you live in London, or are visiting, I will be contributing a speech at an anti-3-strikes event called "Stop Lord Mandelson" on October 2, in London, at 7 pm, together with David Rowntree (Blur) and Ben Goldacre (Guardian / Bad Science), organized and moderated by Jim Killock (Open Rights Group UK). Please join me, and / or spread the word.The petition is here. My slide-show response to Hadopi / French-trois-strikes is here. My summary of Cory Doctorow's 2008 (!) comments on 3 strikes are here. On a more humorous note, check out these funny 'PiratesPrisons' videos.
"As expected, the French National Assembly has approved an amended version of the three-strikes legislation, designed to curb illegal file sharing, slung out earlier this year. When will they realise that none of this is going to work anyway" writes By Ian Scales. "The three-strikes issue now appears to have settled into a familiar left v. right split in France with the right-leaning majority UMP voting 'for' and the Socialist party against. Internet rights campaigners across Europe have been trying to keep the issue de -polarised since there is a substantial body of right-leaning libertarian politicians who are against the three-strikes approach but who may be lost if it all becomes too clearly identified with the left. In France at least, that doesn't appear to have worked..."
A while ago, I was interviewed by the people from Ericsson Editorial Services, on the topic of "The Future of Content and Telecom". The interview was just published, today, and I am quoting it, below, while adding some relevant links and images. Ericsson has also added a pretty cool video called "Generation Gap" which I am embedding for your additional enlightenment;). Beyond this, you may also want to watch the video from my speech at eComm 2009: The Future of Content & Telecoms: Flat Rate Content Bundles and Social Media, embedded below, as well (you can download this and other videos via my Blip.tv channel)
Futurist: Telecom crucial for new media business
"Say goodbye to CDs and DVDs. In the future, most media content will be
sold digitally. And, according to Gerd Leonhard, one of the world’s
leading media futurists, telecom will play an important part in making
the new media business both legal and profitable.
Leonhard
says there are two main obstacles facing the new media business. One is
that operators don’t understand how the media world works and what it
takes to make media content popular on handsets. The other is that
media companies are unwilling to change their old ways of working. “Operators need to start to think of themselves as providers of
content, entertainment and general communication that goes beyond
messaging,” he says. “Content providers are also hopelessly stuck with
a model of selling that no one wants. For example, very few people buy
music online. People download music for free, and the same is true for
films and TV shows.”
Free content and licenses
Leonhard
believes operators have to make the first move. He says they have to be
willing to subsidize the use of content until mobile advertising
becomes mainstream, or until there are other profitable ways of
supporting media content.“For instance, in terms of music, operators should integrate legal
music services into their networks for free. If they do that, they can
become powerful providers of music ‘experiences’ and this makes it
easier for them to sell other things to get a return on their
investments.
“In Germany,
you pay EUR 150 per year for using the TV, and I believe digital music
could be wrapped into this fee,” he says. “A license system can also be
created solely for the purpose of digital media.“Let’s say the fee would be about EUR 1 per week; I think most people
would be happy to pay that amount. It would generate revenues and, even
if tax-payers refuse to pay it themselves, the money could come from
sponsors, marketing and advertising.”
Leonhard says that a “digital media” licensing system will not be
achievable without the support of telecom operators. “Telecom has the
economic power to create a licensing system because they have the
users,” he says. “If the pressure is strong enough, the content owners
will agree to public licenses and the telecom industry will agree to
pay them.” Leonhard says splitting the earnings from such a licensing system would
mirror that of a radio license. “The streaming or downloading of music
could be monitored, providing a digital footprint. And, at the end of
every month, you can see how many times a song has been downloaded and
that will decide what percentage of the pool of money the song gets in
that particular country. The more your song gets played, the more money
you get.”
No ‘going back’. In countries where licensing systems do not exist, such as the US,
Leonhard proposes a system supported by advertising. “You could listen
to music or read a book on your mobile for free because you are
receiving messages from advertisers and sponsors that you have
selected,” he says. “This is how Google, is able to support Gmail and
other services free of charge. I don’t think North Americans will
oppose receiving ads on their phones as long as they are synchronized
with the content.”
Leonhard warns that if content companies do not develop or adapt to new
payment models, they are in danger of bankruptcy. “Until this year,
most content companies have been trying very hard to control the flow
of money due to their history of monopolies and cartels,” he says.
“Today, they can no longer control the whole system because it’s an
open system. And if we are going for an open platform, all players –
from media companies to telecom – have to collaborate. “The problem is not so much that people don’t want to pay, but finding
the right point of payment. I always say that media content providers
have a ‘toll-booth problem,’ meaning they have put up the booth too
early, and people turn away. If they put the booth in the right place,
I’m convinced people will be willing to pay to get access to their
favorite content.
Bizarrely, the UK government, led by Lord Mandelson, the UK Business Secretary, seems to have done a 180-shift in the past 2 weeks by once again proposing to disconnect alleged file-sharers from the Internet. In other words: if the content industry can't get people to buy music or films, or other so-called content, by offering relevant, fair and affordable new ways to do so, maybe the government can help to force people back into buying the old-fashioned way, i.e. by the unit / copy? Rather than actually change the industry's business model, let's just change the consumers' habits - problem solved!
If you want to be puzzled, just read the UK government's announcement (PDF via Arstechnica). The Net is buzzing with news on this topic; see below. The FT has a good recent update called 'Claws & Effect' here; wherein I read (with little surprise): "Senior music industry figures, such as Lucian Grainge, head of
Universal Music International, have been influential in mobilising
Westminster to act". Lobbyists succeed again?
The bottom line can be summarized like this: "Let's just see if we can still force people to consume music in the way that suits us better". Never mind that the very similar French Sarkozy-'Bruni' proposal was just recently deemed illegal by the French Constitutional Law as well as by the European commission - maybe some good lobbyists can revert that, as well?
Here are a few quotes I have collected on this topic:
Those who like this idea
"John Kennedy, chief executive of IFPI, the organisation representing
the recording industry worldwide, says: “It is not enshrined in any law
anywhere that one has the right to steal music, films and books. There
is a crisis in the economy, and as well as respecting rights we have to
think about the economy and jobs” (FT) Related read: John Kennedy at RSA
“We welcome the government’s recognition that this problem needs to be
addressed urgently, so today is a step forward that should help the
legal digital market to grow for consumers,” the BPI, the music
industry trade body, said. “The solution to the piracy problem must be
effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (FT)
Those who don't like this idea
"Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, one of the
UK’s biggest providers, says: “We are going to fight [being forced to
disconnect customers] as hard as we can. Our fundamental duty is to
protect the rights of our subscribers” (FT)
"A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “We share the government’s
commitment to addressing the piracy problem and recognise that new laws
have an important role to play in this. But persuasion not coercion is
the key to changing consumer behaviour as a heavy-handed, punitive
regime will simply alienate mainstream consumers. The
government should be ensuring a balance of action against repeat
infringers and the rapid development of new legitimate services that
provide a compelling alternative to illegal file-sharing" (FT)
"Internet provider TalkTalk said it would "strongly resist" government
attempts to oblige Internet service providers to act as Internet
police. TalkTalk said disconnecting alleged offenders "will be futile
given that it is relatively easy for determined filesharers to mask
their identity or their activity to avoid detection" (HuffPo)
One of my favorite quotes, via Labour MP Tom Watson: “Challenged by the revolutionary distribution mechanism that is the
internet, big publishers with their expensive marketing and PR
operations and big physical distribution networks, are seeing their
power and profits diminish. Faced with the choice of accepting this and
innovating, or attempting, King Canute-style, to stay the tide of
change, they’re choosing the latter option, and looking to Parliament
for help with some legislative sand bags” (FT)
Some important facts and other related snippets (quotes from various sources):
Proposed EU telecommunications legislation includes a clause stating that internet access is a fundamental human right (FT)
In Ireland, internet companies UPC and BT Ireland have refused to
comply with music companies’ requests to cut off suspected pirates (FT)
The Sunday Times claims that Lord Mandelson,
the business secretary, has been persuaded that pirates should be
deprived of internet access altogether after dining with “Hollywood
mogul” David Geffen *via FT (no surprise here, either;)
I have been saying this since 1999: the solution to illegal filesharing is to legalize the way that people share content online, to create new, public, compulsory licenses for content, starting with music (yes, just like the Radio / Broadcasting license), to create fair and flexible licensing standards, and to reduce control in favor of compensation.
The UK's trend towards increased criminalization is just plain old wrong, technologically absurd and utter fantasy, culturally 500% retro, and socially unjustifiable. Techdirt's Mike Masnick sums it up nicely: "You may kick people off the internet, but does anyone honestly think that will actually get people to buy again?"
Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, some say Iconoclast | Heretic, CEO TheFuturesAgency, Visiting Prof FDC Brazil, Green Futurist
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