[Wolves] Fwd: [SC.LUG] 3 Strike Petition

[Andy Jewell]

Kevan,

I signed too, and I think most of the guys in my office will.

Just one point - you said "It is legal to have a digital back up for personal use." Unfortunately, this is not the case; British copyright law makes no exception like the "Fair use" ones in the US; fair dealing covers things like reviews, analyses, critiques and so on, but does not really allow us to make full copies of any copyrighted material.

Technically, it is illegal to use a vcr to record from the TV, or an MP3 ripper to make copies of your CD collection. There has been a precident set by Industry, on the basis that although the rights holders *could* sue under the law, they would not prevail (although they could still "win") in court, as they can show no material harm caused; that is the key in the UK - if no "harm" is caused by the infringement, no damages are due. The judge could say to the plaintiff "yes, mega-mdeia-corp. you are quite right, mr. smith did infringe your copyright, so mr. smith, you are guilty of copyright infringement, however, as he caused you no actual harm, I will not impose any punishment. Case dismissed".

I AM NOT A LAWYER - THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE - for that, you have to pay a proper lawyer/solicitor/barrister etc. etc.

My biggest worry about this bill is that it's "the thin end of the wedge" and will result in far worse restrictions down the road.

How are virgin media (my ISP) going to differentiate my relatively frequent ISO downloads of linux distros from music cd ISO's or DVD ISO's? Will I get threatened with disconnection for downloading Ubuntu 10.04?

Andy D'Arcy Jewell