Question

Matt Phillips , Would you like to see more creators of peer-to-peer and music sharing program authors going to court? Do you think individual users uploading and sharing copy-protected works online should face more punishment?
Asked by MTyrrell on Oct 30 2007 10:12:55 PM and supported by 35 members MORE!

Answer

It’s not a question of taking people who invent technology to court, this isn’t a war against technology. Technological change will always happen. Where the BPI focuses it attentions is on people who are wilfully damaging our industry, who are generating significant amounts of money through the theft of music. We’re not against technology; we’re against the people who abuse it. With regard to individual users I think that you’ve got to be measured. Do people buy television licenses because they feel that it is the right thing to do or because they fear prosecution? I wouldn’t propose that we took everyone to court who ever downloaded a song; but I think that you have to implement deterrents to make people do the right thing. So the approach that we have taken thus far has been to take the major up-loaders who have been distributing the most files to court. Copyright law is pretty black and white, so we’ve not lost a case.

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