Ask any kid: pirates are cool. The seven seas, treasure, saying “Aaarrrr!!”. All that shit is gold.

For years the record industry tried to make downloading music and filesharing sound more dodgy than it was by calling it “piracy.” They’ve now come finally to realise they’ve created a monster. Not only do we all love pirates due to characters like Captain Hook or Jack Sparrow, but the pirate flag and the term pirate has become a rallying cry for the international movement to legalise not-for-profit filesharing.

“We should change the word piracy,” said International Actor’s Federation head Agnette Haaland.

“To me, piracy is something adventurous, it makes you think about Johnny Depp. We all want to be a bit like Johnny Depp. But we’re talking about a criminal act.”

This week, the International Chamber of Commerce teamed up with unions to try and scare us all by claiming that downloading music and films from the internet is going to put everyone out of work and pretty much destroy the world. Their major report claims that 1.2 million jobs and 240 billion euros worth of European commerce could be wiped out by 2015.

The problem with this of course is that it a) doesn’t take account of all the people that wouldn’t have bought/can’t afford to buy what they download, and b) they’ve just taken a figure, and equated that with jobs. Except we actually know that the record industry isn’t some kind of charity handing out jobs to the needy. If we had all coughed up those 240 billion Euros, most of it would have ended up in the profit side of record corporation and movie studio bank balances.

It’s a real shame that some European trade unions have joined up with this industry crusade, and are helping lead the charge for ordinary people to be kicked off the internet and face criminal charges. It’s nothing but going along with the bosses agenda, and will do nothing to increase the credibility of unions with the general public.

The blatant scare mongering of the report, which received widespread media coverage, is clearly intended to justify the incredibly draconian and shit Digital Economy Bill currently being rushed through the Westminster parliament with the support of all major parties.

In fact, the entertainment industry is booming. The report itself acknowledges that profits and job creation outweighs the cost of “piracy”. And the movie business is booming, with record takings at cinemas.

The record industry has basically been given the opportunity to write a piece of law for the UK via the Digital Economy Bill. It’s totally idiotic. In the current context, something that millions of people do every day – share files online – has become an act of defiance against the government and the capitalist class.

The fact of the matter is that filesharing technologies on the internet make the for-profit capitalist entertainment industry obsolete. The record industry execs today are just like feudal lords in the 18th century, watching in horror as their source of wealth vanishes in the face of new technology.

But just like the old lords, they’re not going down with out a fight. Take James Murdoch, son of Rupert and heir to the throne of probably the world’s greatest capitalist media empire:

“There is no difference with going into a store and stealing Pringles or a handbag and taking this stuff. It’s a basic condition for investment and economic growth and there should be the same level of property rights whether it’s a house or a movie. The idea that there’s a new consumer class and you have to be consumer-friendly when they’re stealing stuff. No. There should be the same level of sanctity as there is around property. Content is no different. They’re not crazy kids. No. Punish them.”

Those are fighting words James!

Fuck the Digital Economy Bill! Legalise not-for-profit filesharing now!

Bring it on James Murdoch!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 1:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.