Web Pirates and PR

November 23, 2009

pirate day

The government’s long anticipated attempt to combat web piracy has assumed something resembling reality in the form of the just-published Digital Economy Bill. Under the Bill, whose provisions are reported by the Independent, internet service providers (ISPs) will be obliged to send letters to those suspected of online piracy. The owners of illegally downloaded material will also be entitled to the name and address of serial offenders, so that they can take legal action against them.

The Indy also tells us that Andrew Robinson, the leader of the pro-file sharing party, Pirate Party UK, believes the Bill is an attack on free speech, so too that the Government – which surely will not have time to implement the Bill – faces opposition from the former digital engagement minister, Tom Watson.

Swordplay has some sympathy with these views. Without seeing the fine print we cannot comment on the evidential tests to be met – or, perhaps, ignored – before ISPs have to threaten alleged miscreants or hand over their addresses to interested parties, but we are not convinced that conferring such power via statute is desirable. The law of disclosure already provides rights holders with this avenue of redress, but surely anything that scuppers broadband access is contrary to the principle of a ‘digital Britain’. Moreover, it is also inimical to both freedom of expresion and, given how vital a communications tool broadband is, the right to a family life. Web pirates appear to have been handed some pleasingly sharp PR axes to grind.

Pictured thanks to doc rogers (i): a flyer for Talk Like  A Pirate Day. What, we wonder, do ads for Talk Like a Web Pirate Day look like?

 

Comments

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Not so right said Fred

February 2, 2012
fred hat

So Farewell, then, Sir Fred Goodwin.

Now you are just Fred.

Not Right Said Fred, but plain Fred.

The Forfeiture Committee did for you.

No one had heard of it before,

But Dave said it had to act, and it did.

Trouble is that no one knows what to think.

Is it ‘Alas, poor Fred‘,

Or ‘Hurray! Sir Fred is dead!’?

We don’t know.

Do you?

By A. Mob, aged 1,378 and a half.

London Goes AWOL

January 31, 2012
CNN

STOP PRESS:

Fed up with being stuck on the Thames in south-east England, London yesterday decided to move. In a dramatic gesture which augurs ill for the Olympics, the city upped sticks and relocated to East Anglia.

Lawyers were not consulted about the move, and the city’s precise motivation remains unclear. However, financiers fear that London’s decision is a sign that it wishes to downsize. Moreover, a source from London said: “We no longer want to be Britain’s seat of power. If the Scots can deregulate, why can’t we? East Anglia is a nice place where nothing happens. It’s time for a quiet life. Please respect our right to privacy.”

Elsewhere, Birmingham did not do anything, but Manchester was seen to be packing its bags. “There’s an opportunity for us,” said Manchester. “We can become London.”

East Anglia said: “We don’t mind. It’ll be refreshing to be associated with something other than fens and flatness.”

A cartologist at CNN, which broke the extraordinary news, was later fired.

An excellent ad if ever there was one

January 25, 2012
legovader

We seem to be visually led this week but sometimes words proliferate far too much and letting an image do the talking is no bad thing. That’s another way of saying that ACCESS Agency’s work with Lego is absolutely top drawer.