Piracy and Internet censorship

Recently, BT (British Telecom) has not only been court mandated to block Newzbin2, but is now being pressured by the Great British Government and more arts groups to block The Pirate Bay. The basis for these moves is that they inhibit growth in the entertainment industry. Oh really?! So $134bn dollar revenue in foreign markets (Outside of the U.S) during the recession of 2010, $6bn more than in recession-free 2007, is inhibited growth? A study by the Social Science Research Council found that piracy was primarily caused by market failure, and that “the pirate market cannot be said to compete with legal sales or generate losses for industry”. This, however, is beside the point.

As has always been the case, the conservative Government of Great Britain has corporate fat-cats interests closest to heart. This means that unfounded claims of piracy inhibiting growth and producing losses for the industry, simply to put Government pressured blocks on the ISP level for consumers, overlooks the fundamental problems that sections of the entertainment industry have yet to address; their content is not as affordable or readily available as they would have you believe. In some developing markets, piracy is the market. More importantly, what if Western Governments are setting dangerous precedents? What if an authoritarian party gets into power and begins pushing the boundaries of what content ISP's are blocking? Are these blocks rash decisions or are they calculated steps which take into account the future of state Internet censorship?

However fighting piracy issues is a difficult task. It is world-wide, and what used to take place in the physical world has now taken a foothold on the Internet. What's more, it's free. No longer do we have to buy CD's from a dodgy looking fella out of the back of a Ford Escort at a Sunday morning car boot sale. And whilst the entertainment industry paints pictures of catastrophic downfalls in revenue, they refuse to invest properly to develop technology that is both easily accessible and affordable. So in effort to disguise their failings, they throw their toys out of the pram to get the Prime Ministers attention. The problem with the entertainment industry is not piracy. It's outright stupidity. The unwillingness to adapt. And the only thing close to real about the apocalyptic end to the entertainment industry is that it is as equally fictional as Super Man. And they would have you believe piracy is their Kryptonite.

But Hollywood is not the only group worried about protecting their ever-increasing profits. Rights-holders for sporting events are also big advocates of Internet censorship. For example, BSkyB bought the rights for the EPL (English Premier League) for £1.3bn. They then charge £40 per month to access just a few channels, and an extra £9 per month to access one more channel which also shows some of the games. These same rights are also sold abroad. They cannot expect everyone to be able to afford these price points – especially during or right after a global recession which seen so many people lose their jobs or take salary cuts. So what do people do when they can't follow their favourite team? Damn right they Google it. Do they think people care that they're streaming a game illegally when corporations are paying out millions in bonuses and making over £1bn per year in profit?

Large corporate rights-holders seem to have lost all grasp on reality and focus solely on how they can line their own pockets. Of course, business without profit would be failed business – But good business is about addressing problems and finding feasible solutions. Not by setting dangerous precedents and hiding behind pressured censorship or legality's to cover up market failure.