British Musicians Want Piracy Stopped

July 24, 2012 by
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Entertainment Industry, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

A number of British music stars have signed a letter to David Cameron asking the Government to increase its efforts to combat filesharing

Among the declared enemies of  illegal downloading, the letter counts Lord (Andrew) Lloyd-Webber, Sir Elton John, Simon Cowell and Robert Plant of Led Zepplin.

The purpose of the letter (due to be sent this week) is to urge the prime minister to make sure the Digital Economy Act 2010 will take effect as soon as possible. Through the bill internet service providers (ISPs), search engines and online advertisers will be forced to comply with heavy measures to protect copyright owners.

Other names also joined the ‘coalition’ – rappers Tinie Tempah, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend from The Who, Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen, the latter saying: ‘As the world’s focus turns to the UK this summer, there is an opportunity to stimulate growth in sectors where the UK has a competitive edge.

The artists stress the role of search engines in protecting consumers and creators from illegal sites’ and that ministers must ‘implement swiftly the long overdue measures in the Digital Economy Act 2010′

The major upcoming event of Summer Olympic Games 2012 hosted by London has, of course, been used to create the context of urgency towards Britain’s creative industries protection with the emphasis placed on the artists liberty to ‘earn a fair return on their huge investments creating original content’.

Recent reports show that meanwhile The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) holds Google responsible for facilitating music piracy by displaying in results file-sharing sites and allowing people to access them. But God forbid you ever use the term ‘censorship’.

So, on one hand we have musical dinosaurs (no disrespect intended) guarding their ivory tower, and on the other hand we have business dinosaurs clinging to their corporation and their monopolizing business models and opposing any need for change. But, hey, lads, worry not – filesharing is here to stay, in one form or another, not so sure about ‘intermediaries’ though.

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