The latest Futurama movie, Bender’s Game, is released in a few days and as usual it’s already on BitTorrent. However, Matt Groening has included a nice extra on the DVD - a pretty amusing parody on one of the classic anti-piracy messages.
Anyone who watched The Simpsons Movie will have noticed Bart in the intro chalking his famous blackboard with the words “I will not illegally download this movie”. Matt Groening seems to appreciate the comedy anti-piracy message as his latest movie, ‘Futurama: Bender’s Game‘, also includes some mockery of file-sharers or, on closer inspection, possibly some encouragement. Whatever the intention, it is pretty funny.
The movie, the third in the Futurama series and due for release in a few days time, has already leaked to BitTorrent. This is nothing new, but hidden away in the DVD extras is a parody of the infamous movie industry anti-piracy ad, which was previously parodied by the IT Crowd.
Entitled ‘Downloading Often Is Terrible’ or D.O. I.T for short, the animated advert follows the familiar “You wouldn’t steal…” structure, but with more unusual content. Whatever the ad suggests that Bender wouldn’t steal or do, is followed up by Bender doing just that, starting with “You wouldn’t steal a spaceship”, which of course, Bender would, along with lots of other amusing things.
Although Bender is stealing physical objects in his 2D animated world, lots of people disagree with the use of the word ’steal’ to describe the act of copyright infringement. Australian lawyer Brendan Scott certainly doesn’t believe it. When someone downloads movies or music illegally, they make a copy, he argues. The original is still there, and legally speaking nothing is stolen. Scott concludes: “To use the infringement-as-stealing meme demonstrates something of a lack of respect for language and consequently a lack of respect for the people to whom you are speaking.”
But maybe Bender himself provides the truth. The copyright lobbies often paint the fight against piracy as a “matter of life and death” so it seems fitting to utilize the phrase to illustrate the chasm between stealing and copying. Having watched the clip and noted the final stolen item produced from Bender’s chest, I immediately thought about where that came from, the state of the gentleman in question, and where I could find him for a chat.
Because if anyone in the world knows the difference between copying and stealing, it’s got to be him. Or Lucy Liu’s milliner. Enjoy the clip.
If you go back 3 months on YouTube, it appears that even this parody got leaked ahead of time. Cammed too, you couldn’t make it.
Post from: TorrentFreak
31.Oct.08 
TorrentFreak 
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The Chinese government has stepped in and banned 10 video sites, while giving warnings to 17 others. The sites were accused of ‘regulations violations’ ranging from running a service without authorization, through to displaying violent or horrific content. None of the charges relate to piracy, even though one of the sites is China’s biggest eDonkey indexing site.
The West would dearly love China to clamp down on Internet piracy, so when 10 video sites were recently banned by the Chinese government and 17 others were issued with warnings, it looked like some progress may have been made. It wasn’t to be.
According to a report from Xinhuanet, China’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television has taken action action against 17 sites it claims violated various regulations, including the publishing of horrific, violent or pornographic content, and operating a video site without proper approval. None of the sites appeared to have been warned or shuttered due to piracy issues.
One of the sites that has been warned, VeryCD, is China’s largest eDonkey indexing site. In operation for around 5 years, it claims to link to more than 30 terabytes of data. VeryCD also operates a service known as MP3! which aims to be the world’s largest index of MP3 files, which would understandably attract some copyright action.
However, a visit to VeryCD appears to show the site pretty much intact and packed with links to the latest movies, music, games and software. So, it appears the site was warned, rather than banned. Details are scarce, what might it have been warned about if it is not related to copyright infringement?
Of course, pornographic content is available on eDonkey, that is one option. Another possibility lies in the list of complaints about the various sites - there is one which reads “spreading video programs that violate national regulations”. VeryCD actually created their own version of eMule, which has been downloaded more than 30 million times. Could that be the cause of the warning?
Whatever the problem, unusually for a file-sharing site, it wasn’t piracy.
Via SHD
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31.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Pirate Bay co-founders Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij gave a keynote speech at the Hack In The Box Security Conference 2008, entitled “How to dismantle a billion dollar industry - as a hobby.” The two discuss how The Pirate Bay grew to be the largest BitTorrent site on the Internet, and some of the challenges they face today.
At the Hack in the Box conference, held in Malaysia, Peter and Fredrik gave a talk this morning, where they offered some background information on how the site became the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker, in a relatively short period of time.
The two, who just turned 30, have a long history of copyright infringement which started back in the ’80’s, with Peter cracking Amiga games and Fredrik copying Commodore64 software. At the time they had never heard of copyright infringement, they were just doing what everybody else did. To the amusement of the audience, Peter said he didn’t think piracy was ‘wrong’ when he was a kid, but now that he’s an adult, he knows it’s not.
Years later, in 2003, they got involved in founding Piratbyrån (The Bureau of Piracy), a pro-piracy organization that was created in response to anti-Piratbyrån. The goal of Piratbyrån was to start a debate on copyright issues, and how they affect society. Until then, most press in Sweden would simply take everything anti-Piratbyrån said for granted.
In the years to come, Piratbyrån started several pro-piracy projects, and the most influential is without a doubt the founding of The Pirate Bay on November 21, 2003. “We needed to have a filesharing network in Sweden, because there was none,” Peter said. “At this time there was one big torrent site, which was called Suprnova, but they mainly had international content. We and Piratbyrån wanted more Swedish and Scandinavian content. So we started a big library, and that is The Pirate Bay.”
Fredrik, who ran one of the earlier versions of the tracker on his laptop, explained that when The Pirate Bay went live, it was hosted in South America. “The Pirate Bay originally started out in Mexico, on a Mexican server where Anakata, the third guy of The Pirate Bay was working at the time,” he said. Anakata hosted the site on a server owned by the company he was working for, but it was soon overloaded since the site grew so rapidly.
The Pirate Bay was initially available in Swedish language only. However, after a year they found out that, although their site was initially targeted at Scandinavians, over 80% of the users came from other parts of the world. In fact, one of the most popular torrents was a Swedish language course. Because of increasing worldwide popularity, The Pirate Bay team completely redesigned the site, which became available in several languages.
The popularity of the site didn’t go unnoticed in Hollywood. Like many other BitTorrent sites, The Pirate Bay also received several takedown notices. However, the way they responded to these was quite unique and some have become news stories in themselves. Threats from the entertainment industry didn’t stop at sending letters. In true Hollywood style, The Pirate Bay admins soon saw private investigators watching their every move.
“They’ve sent private investigators after us, which is really stupid if you do something online,” Peter said. “What are they going to find, that we are sitting behind our computers?” Fredrik added: “I guess the private investigator that went after me in Gothenburg got to see a lot of good bars, a lot of late nights, but probably not a lot of evidence gathering.” Peter then noted that someone from the IFPI was actually at the conference, “still trying to find out what we’re doing.”
Eventually The Pirate Bay got raided, following pressure from Hollywood and the USA. Fredrik recalls the day vividly: “I got a phone call like 10am in the morning, it was Anakata.” He told Fredrik that there were police officers at their office, and asked him to get down to the colocation facility and get rid of the ‘incriminating evidence’, although none of it, whatever it was, was related to The Pirate Bay.
As Fredrik was leaving, he suddenly realized that the problems might be linked to their tracker, so he initiated a full backup of the site. At the colocation facility there were 65 police, some in civilian clothing. Fredrik asked them: “Who are you? What are you doing here?” To which they responded, “Who are YOU? What are you doing here?” After questions back and forth, Fredrik eventually told them his name, and a police officer said, “Oh, we’ve been looking for you.”
During the subsequent questioning, the Pirate Bay trio gave up very little information. Anakata quickly confessed to his crime - of killing the Swedish prime minister when he was 2 years old, but that was all they got. It is up to the court to decide whether the Pirate Bay founders are operating illegally or not. Until then, The Pirate Bay is still up and running, stronger than ever.
As always, there are a lot of plans for the future, and Peter and Fredrik briefly discussed some. One of the most interesting plans is to encrypt tracker connections, so anti-piracy organizations can’t spy on their users. We will probably hear more about that in the future. The keynote speech by Peter and Fredrik was streamed from a mobile phone last night, and we embedded the recording below. The sound quality is far from optimal, but it’s watchable. The talk starts at 13m 00s
“How to dismantle a billion dollar industry - as a hobby.”
Post from: TorrentFreak
30.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
A married couple with a combined age of 120 have been accused by UK games lawyers Davenport Lyons of pirating an Atari game, and faced demands for over £500. However, the shocked couple enlisted the help of a popular consumer magazine, and unsurprisingly, the lawyers have backed down.
No matter how many times it gets said, it doesn’t seem to sink in. On its own, an IP address doesn’t identify a copyright infringer, but that doesn’t stop the accusations by anti-piracy tracking companies and lawyers.
In what is expected to be the first of many such instances, a married couple have been incorrectly accused of online piracy. The combined efforts of controversial anti-piracy monitoring company Logistep and UK lawyers Davenport Lyons found that one of the couple, Ken and Gill Murdoch, aged 54 and 66, illegally shared the Atari game Race 07. As in all cases, the couple were given the opportunity to pay up a significant amount - £525 ($855), or face ruination in court.
According to Metro, the pair stated that they had never even played a computer game and presumed that they had been wrongfully identified due to the fact that someone accessed their wireless router. In reality, the error could’ve been made at any stage in the detection process but due to a lack of transparency on the part of anti-piracy tracking company Logistep, it’s impossible to say exactly where. Whatever the truth, the couple rightly refused to take the accusations and demands for payments lying down - and not without result.
The couple enrolled the help of high-profile consumer magazine, Which? Computing, with editor Sarah Kidner supporting the couple entirely. “It’s outrageous that lawyers are falsely accusing people of illegally file-sharing,” she said. “They [Davenport Lyons] should cut out the heavy-handed tactics immediately.”
And surprise surprise, thanks to the Which? Computing intervention, Davenport Lyons did just that, dropping the case against the Murdochs, which should be the first of many. Again, it seems that the law firm is mainly interested in making easy money for their clients. They celebrate default judgments as huge victories, but back down when accused filesharers actually defend themselves.
Post from: TorrentFreak
29.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Ubuntu, the open source GNU/Linux based operating system, is about to release its next big update - Intrepid Ibex. In the past, the update servers would crash very quickly on a big release day, making it hard for people to get the latest update. With BitTorrent, however, this can be easily avoided.
Most users of Linux based operating systems such as Ubuntu are familiar with BitTorrent. In fact, Ubuntu even comes with a BitTorrent client, and millions of Ubuntu users got their install disk via the popular filesharing protocol.
When it comes to upgrading their OS, however, most users still rely on Ubuntu’s central servers. Because of this, the servers are overloaded with upgrade requests every time a big update is released, which often causes them to crash. The next Ubuntu update, version 8.10 aka Intrepid Ibex is scheduled to be released this week, and since the OS is more popular than ever, updating might be troublesome.
There is an easy solution to this problem though. One that not only prevents the Ubuntu servers from crashing, but also speeds up the update progress, because it uses BitTorrent. A bunch of TorrentFreak readers were kind enough to write a basic tutorial to guide you through the upgrade process, which we have posted below.
Update to Ubuntu ‘Intrepid Ibex’ using BitTorrent
Step 1: Setting sources.list to a close-local mirror
First off, it’s definitely recommended to reset to a local mirror. This way, you will download any needed files from a closer and supposedly faster source.
Either do an auto-check: System -> Administration -> Software Sources -> Download From: -> Other -> Select Best Server (It’ll run a couple hundred tests (takes less than five minutes) and select the best mirror for you. Make sure to remember which mirror it is, because you will need that later.)
Or select your local mirror yourself according to your country.
Step 2: Disable 3rd Parties repositories
It is also very much recommended to disable 3rd party repositories! If you don’t know exactly what you are doing, go to the 3rd Parties tab and deselect all of the entries there.
Step 3: Install apt-p2p
Next you need to install “apt-p2p”. Version 0.2.5 is needed because of a major bug in older versions. This is beta software, so it might not be stable for everybody. If it can’t download the file via BitTorrent, however, it will revert to http download.
As apt-p2p is not in the hardy repos yet, we have to fetch it from a server directly. Below I have have two scripts for 32-bit and 64-bit. Use the one that matches your OS.
For 32bit versions use this script, and for 64bit versions use this script.
Save the script file as “apt-p2p.sh” on your desktop. Then open a terminal (Applications > System > Terminal) and issue these commands (you’ll be prompted for your user password):
cd ~/Desktop
sudo sh apt-p2p.sh
The scripts will create a apt-p2p folder in the /temp folder, enter that folder and download apt-p2p from the intrepid repositories (they work fine on hardy), including all dependencies. Finally, it will install everything in the required order.
Step 4: Prepare the sources.list
Once installed type the following:
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list-apt-p2p-backup
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Now you are looking at the sources.list file for Ubuntu; this specifies which servers to contact for updates and new programs. You should see a bunch of lines that look similar to this:
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
deb http://*mirror-address*/ubuntu/ hardy main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://*mirror-address*/ubuntu/ hardy main universe restricted multiverse
where **mirror-address** is the address of the mirror you chose earlier.
Don’t worry, you may not have all of these, and you may have more. However, you only want to change ones that are similar to these. You want to change these to look like this:
deb http://localhost:9977/archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
deb-src http://localhost:9977/archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
deb http://localhost:9977/*mirror-address*/ubuntu/ hardy main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://localhost:9977/*mirror-address*/ubuntu/ hardy main universe restricted multiverse
So basically just insert “localhost:9977″ after the “http://”. Now close the program and save the file. Note: If you messed anything up, go back to the terminal and run this command:
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list-apt-p2p-backup /etc/apt/sources.list
This WILL overwrite your sources.list file with your backup and we are almost done!
Step 5: Update the packages & upgrade to Intrepid
Back at the terminal, type the following command:
sudo apt-get update
This will update the list of software, as well as fully integrate apt-p2p. If you get any errors, run the following commands (Warning: If not done carefully, these commands could destroy your system):
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/apt-p2p/cache/*
sudo apt-get update
Once everything looks okay, you’ll want to forward the ports for apt-p2p to your system (if you have a router, see http://portforward.com, port for apt-p2p is 9977 TCP and UDP). At this point, you’re all set to receive regular updates via BitTorrent. If you want to upgrade to Intrepid ahead of time you may type one of the following commands in the terminal:
sudo update-manager -d
Click on the “upgrade” button on the top right of that window and follow the wizard. When asked, that no valid mirror was found and whether it shall replace hardy with intrepid, then select “Yes”.
or use
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Note: When issuing a “dist-upgrade” in the terminal you will first need to manually alter the entries in the sources.list from “hardy” to “intrepid”.
Now you’re all set, and by using BitTorrent to update Ubuntu you will be updated much faster, and help relieve the strain on the update servers on launch day. As always, tips and suggestions are welcome in the comments.
Post from: TorrentFreak
29.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
The file-sharing oriented news website, P2Pnet, has won its case against the Canadian businessman Wayne Crookes. The Supreme Court ruled that linking to defamatory material doesn’t constitute as publishing. Since the case is about linking, the outcome will have implications for all websites on the Internet, including BitTorrent sites.
Wayne Crookes, a former Green Party organizer, had sued p2pnet claiming that the news site defamed him by merely linking to articles he didn’t agree with. With the freedom of online speech at stake, the case was heard by the British Columbia Supreme Court.
In the decision, Judge Stephen Kelleher disagreed with Crookes, as he ruled that linking to other websites does not amount to publication. Since ‘publication’ is needed to prove defamation, Crookes simply has no case. Judge Kelleher writes in the decision: “Although a hyperlink provides immediate access to material published on another website, this does not amount to republication of the content on the originating site. This is especially so as a reader may or may not follow the hyperlinks provided.”
This is a landmark decision for freedom of speech on the Internet. It goes even further though, since it is not limited to blogs and news outlets. The judge made it very clear that a hyperlink does not equal publication. This means that the current ruling might be relevant to copyright cases involving BitTorrent sites as well, since they merely link to files and do not host any copyrighted content themselves.
P2Pnet owner Jon Newton told TorrentFreak that he is delighted with the decision. “This is a significant victory for all Canadians, and for freedom of speech online. Because if Crookes had triumphed, the ‘net in Canada would to all intents and purposes have been killed stone dead,” he said, while showing appreciation for the quality of his legal representation. “My Lawyer, Dan Burnett, did a great job. He’s extremely smart and genuinely committed and I was extremely lucky to have him acting for me.”
Crookes has clearly lost this battle, but he is not done yet, as he is still involved in lawsuits with Google, Yahoo! and several weblogs including Michal Geist’s. For now things are looking good for our freedom of speech online, let’s hope it stays that way.
Post from: TorrentFreak
29.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
The Tribler BitTorrent client, a project run by researchers from several European universities and Harvard, is the first to incorporate decentralized search capabilities. With Tribler, users can now find .torrent files that are hosted among other peers, instead of on a centralized site such as The Pirate Bay or Mininova.
We have reported on Tribler and it’s development several times already. Previously, the researchers introduced BitTorrent streaming, and new algorithms that will improve the sharing behavior of BitTorrent users. The latest innovation, however, might have even broader consequences, as it creates the world’s first ‘True P2P’ BitTorrent Client.
Up until now, central servers have always been required in order to use BitTorrent effectively. Although the transfer of files via BitTorrent has always been decentralized, the .torrent files that are required to start sharing are always hosted on central servers, those of The Pirate Bay or Mininova for example.
The Tribler developers have found a way to make their client work, without having to rely on BitTorrent sites. Although others have tried to come up with similar solutions, such as the Cubit plugin for Vuze, Tribler is the first to understand that with decentralized BitTorrent search, there also has to be a way to moderate these decentralized torrents in order to avoid a flood of spam.
BuddyCast, the decentralized search feature of the Tribler client is able to do so. Tribler project leader Johan Pouwelse told TorrentFreak: “It has taken us many years to get the zero-server search infrastructure called ‘BuddyCast’ running fast and efficiently. We believe that today BuddyCast is the most efficient, scalable, and battle-hardened algorithm out there which is also ready for user tagging and ratings in true buzz-compliant 2.0 style.”
In addition to the decentralized torrent distribution and search capabilities, Tribler aims to make the BitTorrent experience more social. For instance, users will have the option to boost the download speed of friends, the client will give recommendations based on your download behavior, and it rewards users who are good sharers while punishing those who leech.
“Tribler peers all work together towards a common purpose: fast search and downloads,” Pouwelse explained. “Peers recognize fellow ‘tribe’ members and are pre-programmed with the notion that embracing mutual self-interest is good. This is a radical deviation from the core BitTorrent tit-for-tat mantra dictating pursuit of self-interest only and no memory of past experiences.”
Although this is only the first public implementation of the decentralized search feature, it seems to work pretty seamlessly. Obviously, the content is more limited than on the large BitTorrent sites, since it comes exclusively from other Tribler users, but this will grow as soon as more people start to use the client.
Decentralized BitTorrent search has the potential to make public BitTorrent sites no longer necessary. For now, we think that such a radical shift is not going to happen anytime soon, however, since the top-three BitTorrent sites are involved in legal action in some way or another, you never know when you might need it.
Post from: TorrentFreak
28.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
TV shows are by far the most wanted files on BitTorrent, and according to some, it’s becoming the modern day TiVo. But what are all those people downloading?
Similar to last weeks, Heroes is leading the chart with close to two million downloads. After a week absence, Prison Break has returned in second place.
The data presented here is collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.
Post from: TorrentFreak
28.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Two arch rivals from the KaZaA copyright infringement case have teamed up to produce what is being touted as a formidable anti-piracy system, converting pirates into paying customers. Installed at the ISP level so that users can’t easily bypass it, ‘Copyrouter’ is defeated by BitTorrent.
During recent weeks, a ‘new’ anti-piracy system has been mentioned many times in the press. ‘Copyrouter’ gained most of its press for its ability to deal with the menace of online child porn, but of course, systems like this are almost always created with ‘dual-use’ in mind. There is money to be made in protecting minors, but this is peanuts when compared to the bounty associated with stopping or monetizing illicit file-sharing. The creators of Copyrouter understand this. However, they won’t be making a penny from BitTorrent users, or stopping them from accessing whatever they like.
The company behind Copyrouter is Brilliant Digital Entertainment, headed up by Kevin Bermeister and Michael Speck, previous arch-rivals in the infamous KaZaA case. Within a month they will be trialling the Copyrouter system on an unnamed ISP’s network in Australia.
Using technology known as ‘Deep Packet Inspection‘, the Copyrouter system sits at the ISP level, with access to a list of hash values of infringing files that have been previously found on the Internet. The system then compares these stored ‘digital fingerprints’ to files being accessed or sent by users on the particular ISP where Copyrouter is installed (similar to CopySense). If the system finds a match, transmission of any infringing files would be stopped and the user would either be presented with a warning screen indicating there is a problem, or (and this is where the money-making comes in) directs the user away from pirated content onto legitimate (and presumably chargeable) content.
However, there is a problem. Copyrouter works with applications such as those on the Gnutella network like LimeWire, and also works with DCC+, Soulseek and KaZaA (if anyone uses it anymore) but simply cannot do anything about BitTorrent transfers. BitTorrent uses ’swarming’ technology, whereby small pieces of a file are sent out and received, to and from multiple users. This method of shifting data makes it impossible for Copyrouter to examine and compare the fingerprint of files being transferred as we have argued before, which means that the entire BitTorrent ‘revenue stream’ is off-limits to Brilliant Digital, a real problem since BitTorrent is the Internet’s most popular P2P protocol.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the Internet space,” Brilliant’s Michael Speck told MSNBC “who doesn’t think fighting child sexual exploitation is good business.” Agreed Mr Speck. But there can’t be that many people in the Internet space who believes that piracy isn’t the main target of Copyrouter either.
Brilliant won’t miss much with its inability to monitor BitTorrent for exploitation as it’s the ‘cleanest’ of all P2P networks when it comes to protecting young folk. Torrent site admins already do Copyrouter’s job for it in this respect. At no charge.
Post from: TorrentFreak
28.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Umbrella groups in the UK which represent various parts of the music industry have decided that, in order to win the war on Internet piracy, what they really need is an even bigger umbrella group for all the other umbrella groups to shelter under. That new group, UK Music, is launched today.
The last few years have proved enlightening and liberating for potential entrants to the music business. The Internet provides the possibility for artists to create their own work, market and promote it and finally, distribute it without the need for outside interference help.
Despite the growing ability to control their own destiny, thousands of artists and industry personnel still prefer the help and guidance of a recording label who, among other things, will take anti-piracy action where necessary. In turn, many of these labels feel that they themselves need some sort of support when trying to stamp out piracy, so they turn to a large umbrella group such as the BPI, the British equivalent of the RIAA.
There are many of these groups, all claiming to offer support to various parts of the music and recording industry. In addition to the BPI there is the Association of Independent Music which represents around 800 UK labels and distributors, The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters which claims to be “A single voice for all music writers”, and the MCPS-PRS Alliance, the outfit charged with the dignified collection of performance revenues. Not forgetting the Music Managers Forum of course, which represents the rights of pop music managers, and the self explanatory Musicians Union and Phonographic Performance Limited, which licenses recorded music on behalf of 3,500 labels and 37,000 performers.
Now, as if there aren’t enough industry associations in the music business already, along comes another. Starting today, a new umbrella group known as UK Music is born, and under its guidance will fall all of the other umbrella groups (and under them the artists, labels and distributors) as it aims to bring everyone together in one voice in harmony with itself, if that’s even possible.
After being appointed as the Chief Executive of British Music Rights, (yet another music umbrella group), the head and CEO of UK Music is the former pop star Feargal Sharkey. In addition to nurturing young musical talent, he will become the negotiator-in-chief between the music industry, the government and ISPs who between them will be expected to do the impossible - stamp out Internet piracy. Sharkey will be expected to unify all the hopes and dreams of all the other umbrella groups under his guidance, whilst influencing the decision makers in government, which should become easier with the recent arrival at UK Music of Jo Dipple, the former strategic communications adviser to the Prime Minister.
Speaking with The Guardian, Sharkey said that he believes that the Memorandum of Understanding recently reached between the government, labels and ISPs was an important moment and says he believes that unity shouldn’t be difficult to achieve. “The thing we all realized is that we all agree with each other 95% of the time. It’s looking at where the industry is going to be three, four or five years from now.” Sharkey isn’t just limiting his vision to five years, though. Another of UK Music’s aims will be to have the current copyright protection period of 50 years, extended further.
In 2009, UK Music will deliver a manifesto calling for government support in propping up the ever more bloated music industry - probably starting at the bar of one of many additional black-tie ‘umbrella’ events UK Music will spawn.
Post from: TorrentFreak
27.Oct.08 TorrentFreak Comments Off
