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Will the Digital Economy Bill Actually Help Us?

Somewhere along the line, the connection between piracy, prevention and the legislation seems to have gotten lost. In fact, if memory would serve right, there was never any defining trait or aspect in the Digital Economy Bill which determined and outlined how it would actually be successful to the curbing of piracy.

Is this really important? Quite so; for the past couple of days the biggest argument being given is: “piracy will cost the UK millions in Pounds and in jobs”. There is a strong subliminal suggestion here that implies that the “Digital Economy Bill will stop piracy”, which makes us truly wonder, how?

Everyone knows that China has a pretty darn good control of the internet, enough to make Google pack up and leave with all the censorship going on. But despite China’s strict control, their very own hackers and “leet” citizens are among the most prolific sources of bootlegged material online.

The scary thing here is that the UK is not as tightly controlled as China. If the Digital Economy Bill does push through, then the British government should be prepared to deal with an even stronger community of file-sharing revolutionaries.

Film makers, musicians, game developers and other creative artists are the true victims of piracy, but the Bill is hardly anything that would protect them. Enforcing strict authentication protocols such as digital rights management (DRM) would only inconvenience consumers and would actually inspire people to obtain hassle free, cracked pirated copies.

What many fail to realize is that the simple act of accessing a music video or a film clip never really cost the industry any money. People who are impressed enough with a video will purchase the real product. Those who aren’t would never purchase in the first place.

The government should focus more on giving tax breaks and supporting those in the arts and media industry in order for artists to be able to create works worth purchasing.

For a different opinion on the Digital Economy Bill, read the article on the Economic Voice.