“The UK’s independent music labels want a change in the law so internet service providers (ISPs) become liable for illegal file-sharing by their users.” – says the headline of BBC News.
It is the second attack this week on intermediaries like ISPs to bear responsibility for the behaviour of their users, but the bottom line might be to create a legal construction where ISPs are in a similar position as other more traditional intermediaries are like radio stations and other broadcasters, who pay a licence fee for the use of copyrighted material to rightsholders in exchange for letting their users listen to copyrighted material.
People behind the swedish pirate bay have heavily argued against this kind of flat-rate copyright fee. (via nettime) Well worth a read.
http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0407/msg00020.html
http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0407/msg00032.html
Well, i guess the big war about what ISPs are: phone companies (not responsible for the content they convey) or media companies is just about to start. Yummy.