The European Parliament has decided that illegal file sharers shouldn't be criminalised, as long as they don't profit from it.

 

I hope that means profit as in make money. Otherwise it could be interpreted as meaning any kind of profit, as in, getting anything useful out of download stuff... such as free movies. But I think it's money they mean.

 

Anyway, this all comes as the latest development in the War On Piracy. As you may know, one of America's newest on-going wars is against copyright theft, and right on the front line is the IFPI - the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. That's PHONOgraphic, so stop giggling. The IFPI is totally uncool. Fortunately, their bark is much worse than their might so far they've failed repeatedly to stop piracy and if anything, they've encouraged it further.

 

The music industry's current objective is to force ISPs (internet service providers, who you pay for internet access, like Tiscali or BT) to monitor people's internet usage, and employ a "Three Strikes" policy, where if someone is caught illegally downloading three times, they are banned from the internet.

 

That's exactly the kind of nonsense I've come to expect from the music industry. If you stop people downloading from the internet, they'll just go back to buying pirate DVDs on the black market. Apparently that funds terrorism. And every time you buy a pirate DVD, North Korea plants a nuclear missle with your name on it. It's true.

 

Anyway... needless to say, the IFPI are being arsey about the whole thing. Stupid IFPI.