‘In his ruling Wednesday on whether the Canadian record industry could force Internet service providers to identify digital music-swappers, Federal Court judge Konrad von Finckenstein didn't just poke a few holes in the industry's legal case – he blew it completely out of the water. In fact, if it was a turkey and this was hunting season, it would be nothing but a cloud of feathers…’

To read the article :

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040331.wmath2/BNStory/Business/

It’s nice to know that big business doesn’t have every judge and government in it’s pocket.
:thumbsup:

ok

but what is the legal stance in the uk?

any precedents in case law to give us a starting point?

Originally posted by Bedhead
ok

but what is the legal stance in the uk?

any precedents in case law to give us a starting point?

Sorry to be facetious, but, I guess it depends upon which side of the bed ‘Flunkett’ gets out on.
Seriously, I don’t know, but I think that (like so much these days) it’s up to Brussels.
It’s about time Dictator Bliar gave us a referendum.
:mad:

They're not likely to any time soon though, they're too busy screwing Uni students by making them pay tuition fees.... Something Labour promised they WOULDN'T do in their pre-Election manifesto... Lying bar stewards! :mad:

And if it ain't that it's Bliar (intentional typo) lording it up to George W Bush over Iraq,

Bush and Bliar, sitting in a tree....

I have, for a long time, been trying to push the opinion that simply placing your files in a place that is accessible to someone else (also known as "file sharing") is no different to leaving your property in the garden and having someone take it. I'm sure glad the law can see sense, in Canada at least.

People argue that downloading illegal MP3s is equivalent to walking into a shop and stealing a CD. It isn't. The latter means the producers/sellers incur the costs of producing and distributing the actual physical object of a CD, so make a loss from the theft. Downloading an MP3 means they incur no costs - they just don't make the money either. The thing is though, downloading mp3s tends not to change the persons buying habits. I download the odd mp3, but if all the download sites were closed down, I'd still not go out and buy CDs because I don't like music enough. Conversely, the dedicated music fan who downloads several mp3s will still like to get copies of his/her favourite bands CDs and other merchandise. They use mp3 more as a preview.

I can relate to that. Some people will download MP3's because they can but if they couldn't they would just go without the music. I think most dedicated fans will buy the albums regardless.