File Sharers Wanted, Robin Hoods Needed

Get involved in the Don’t Disconnect Us Campaign and fight anti-file sharing plans

Don’t let Mandelson disconnect your internet!

If you read P2PON or follow what’s happening in the p2p file sharing world you must be aware by now of the UK government’s plans to cut off the Internet connection of alleged file sharers without a fair trial.

Folks, this is a serious matter since the Government’s file-sharing plans means that millions of innocent people could be disconnected without having done anything illegal (check out here to see how this could easily happen).

In October 2009 TalkTalk launched Don’t Disconnect Us campaign whose aim is to make sure the measures proposed by Lord Mandelson don’t become law. We have covered the topic over the last few months so if you want to catch up on the issue check back some of our posts.

Don’t Disconnect Us is also a website thought out as a news and information source on the controversial plans. Anyone interested in the issue can find here a forum to make their views known to the world and a place where they can fight for their rights in the digital age and against the proposals that threaten them.

Moreover, for those who are willing to make a stand and become involved more actively in the campaign here’s what you can (and should) do. TalkTalk’s PR agency contacted us and let us know how we could join efforts to sustain this cause – More of us means less chances to be ignored:

“So far we've managed to get over 30,000 signatures on a number 10 petition and we're currently running a competition to get people to protest in the most creative way they can think of.

Next week we're holding a parliamentary event, where MPs will hear from experts from the industry about why the Government's plans won't work.

As part of this we're looking for "Robin Hoods": people who have developed applications – not necessarily P2P – that enable web users to get content such as music and videos on their terms. We've found a couple who are happy to submit some quotes to our report (some anonymously, some not), but need more to show how prevalent this is.

Can you help? Do you know anyone who'd be prepared to participate and tell us a bit about why they've created the application (we've seen that it's not necessarily financially motivated) and how they think it would be impacted by the government's plans.”

If you’re one of the people who can help here’s some contact info from TalkTalk's PR agency:

Phil Szomszor
Director
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
3 London Wall Buildings
London Wall
London EC2M 5SY
Switchboard: 0207 638 9571
Direct line: 0207 282 1053
Email: phil.szomszor@citigatedr.co.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theredrocket
Web: www.citigatedewerogerson.com