Radiohead condemn plans to cut off illegal downloaders' internet

[Radiohead Brasil]

Outra matériaRadiohead, Blur, Keane push for 'three strikes' downloading ruleMusicians sign motion to push for restricted bandwidth for downloaders"Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Blur's Dave Rowntree and Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley are among the musicians who have signed up to a motion by the Featured Artists Coalition to support the idea of a 'three strikes' rule for illegal downloaders.Under the proposed rule, users who persistently illegally download would receive up to three letters with increasing severity, then a sanction on the speed of their internet connection if they continued to do so.The idea is at odds with the UK government's proposal for new legislation. Yesterday (September 24) Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson again outlined his proposal to cut off the connections of persistent file-sharers, saying it would be a "last resort" as an action against copyright infringers.A message on FAC website, featuredartistscoalition.com following a meeting yesterday (September 24) read: "Our meeting voted overwhelmingly to support a three-strike sanction on those who persistently download illegal files, sanctions to consist of a warning letter, a stronger warning letter and a final sanction of the restriction of the infringer’s bandwidth to a level which would render file-sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access functional."The members also voted to support Lily Allen, who was recently campaigning against illegal downloading. The singer stepped away from the debate yesterday.The file-sharing debate: all the key quotes so far"NME NEWSSeptember 25, 2009http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/47508New video

Ed O'Brien hits out against plan along with the Featured Artists Coalition"Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien has hit out at the UK government's plan to cut off the internet access of persistent illegal file-sharers.O'Brien, a member of the Featured Artists Coalition musicians' alliance, was speaking as the organisation condemned the plan, which was outlined in August, saying it could drive fans away from music."It's going to start a war which they'll never win," the guitarist said about the proposed measure, reports BBC News. "It won't work. It's as simple as that. I was talking to a serial file-sharer the other day who is a friend. He downloads films and he hasn't paid for music for six years."I asked his opinion of it and he laughed. He said, 'Even if they cut me off I'll still be able to do it.' It's something you do not want to take on, so move on."In a joint statement with the British Academy Of Songwriters, Composers And Authors and the Music Producers Guild, the FAC described the proposals as "heavy handed" and explained that its members, which include Kate Nash and Blur's Dave Rowntree "vehemently oppose" the notion."We don't want to make enemies of our fans," Rowntree said. "The sensible thing to do is to try to see how we can monetise all this file-sharing activity, which is evidence of a lot of interest in music."Billy Bragg, also a member of the coalition, said: "We're concerned that, in an age where there is much greater competition for attention, these proposals are in danger of driving young people away from the idea of listening to music. As musicians, we're worried about that."The government had originally given media regulator Ofcom until 2012 to decide whether such connection restricting or severing moves were necessary. However, it is believed that after the intervention of First Secretary Of State Lord Mandelson, the Department For Business, Innovation And Skills has since decided that this timescale is "too long to wait".NME NewsSeptember 10, 2009