Johan Schlüter fra IFPI og Antipiratgruppen: Børneporno er alle tiders

Til et møde i Stockholm for nylig slog advokat Johan Schlüter fra Antipiratgruppen (en gruppe, der bl.a. er kendt for at sende  erstatningskrav i hundredetusindersklassen til teenagere, der linker til sider, der måske indeholder ulovlige MP3-filer) sig løs med betragtninger om, hvor meget han holder af børneporno. Ikke som “forbruger”, men fordi det kan udnyttes til at overtale politikerne til at indføre overvågning og censur:

“Child pornography is great,” the speaker at the podium declared enthusiastically. “It is great because politicians understand child pornography. By playing that card, we can get them to act, and start blocking sites. And once they have done that, we can get them to start blocking file sharing sites”.

The venue was a seminar organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm on May 27, 2007, under the title “Sweden — A Safe Haven for Pirates?”. The speaker was Johan Schlüter from the Danish Anti-Piracy Group, a lobby organization for the music and film industry associations, like IFPI and others…

“One day we will have a giant filter that we develop in close cooperation with IFPI and MPA. We continuously monitor the child porn on the net, to show the politicians that filtering works. Child porn is an issue they understand,” Johan Schlüter said with a grin, his whole being radiating pride and enthusiasm from the podium.

Tro det eller lad være, men den helt store overraskelse er det nok ikke.

Link: IFPI’s child porn strategy (via Boing Boing).

Update: Nu også på ComputerWorld.

Musikere: Fildeling er ikke en forbrydelse

En række kendte britiske musikere med folk som Billy Bragg, Annie Lennox og Peter Gabriel i spidsen erklærer nu, at fildeling ikke bør kriminaliseres, skriver The Independent:

Musicians including Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox, Billy Bragg, Blur’s David Rowntree and Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien said last night that the public should not be prosecuted for downloading illegal music from the internet.

Bragg told The Independent that most of the artists had voted against supporting any move towards criminally prosecuting ordinary members of the public for illegally downloaded music.

The musicians will express their views to Lord Carter, who suggested that individuals downloading music illegally should be brought to justice.

While Lennox was not able to attend the meeting, she sent a message of support, as did Peter Gabriel, while David Gray, Fran Healy from Travis, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Mick Jones from The Clash turned up in support.

Bragg was speaking as a key member of the coalition, which was set up to give a collective voice to artists who want to fight for their rights in the digital world. It is pushing for a fairer deal for musicians at a time when they can use the internet to forge direct links with their fans. “What I said at the meeting was that the record industry in Britain is still going down the road of criminalising our audience for downloading illegal MP3s,” he said.

“If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort. It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.”

Ak, en sådan indsigt er ikke på vej i Danmark, hvor IFPIs Jesper Bay støtter sig til villavejs-rapperne Jokeren og Niarn og lover at fortsætte den gamle recept, som bl.a. har budt på retssager mod skoleelever – på sin blog skriver han:

Det er ikke rimeligt at kalde Enhedslistens spidskandidat, for “kælling”. Men Niarns udmelding fortjener alligevel opmærksomhed. Ligesom Jokerens blot en uge tidligere i et interview i Jyllands-Posten (1.3.). Her tog også han i befriende utvetydige vendinger afstand fra dem blandt publikum, der henter musikken ulovligt.

Ak ja, i det store udland er de ved at se lyset, men herhjemme bakser de stadig ihærdigt med at få tandpastaen tilbage i tuben. Hvilket naturligvis er ganske omsonst. Jokeren og Niarn er tåber, hvis de ikke selv kan se det. Kopiering er billigt i den elektroniske alder, kopibeskyttelse eller DRM er kørt ud på et sidespor, og befolkningens retbevidsthed siger allerede, at hvad der er meget let, kan eller bør der ikke være noget galt i.

Hvilket alt sammen slet ikke behøver at komme kunstnerne eller musikken til skade. Musikere har brug for nye forretningsmodeller, ikke for at retsforfølge deres eget publikum.

Link: It’s not a crime to download, say musicians