Pirates!!....we used to only think pirates to be ransacking the seven seas and killing and pillaging as they went, but today we have a different kind of pirate. Today's pirates also exist online, sharing and downloading files. Some of these products are worth hundreds of dollars. Today you don't have to go to Best Buy and purchase the latest version of Microsoft Office, you can download a version already altered and made "better" from sharing websites. The French have taken this issue very seriously and plan on enacting laws in early 2009 that will start literally kicking people off the internet if they do not adhere to the warnings that the receive from the government. The government voting 297 to 15 clearly made this a huge issue, and more importantly a new department has been created within the government to help stop online piracy. Many other countries in Europe are considering picking up on what the French have done, including Sweden, and Germany. Violators of copyright laws will receive two warnings, and then they will be cut off from the web. A proposal that a fine would be enacted for violators was declined due to the fact that people would just pay it off, being kicked off the internet is much more effective.
Thomas Baker
Nov. 9th 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7706014.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment