Comments on: It’s Not Working

By: Share your Creative Freedom! Connection is a Right – stop the 40 day push! | Fellow Creative

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:54:47 +0000

[...] it need to but as she pointed out in her more recent blog post our attempts to date ‘Its not working‘ – we perhaps need a more directed and real-world approach – so has anyone got [...]

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:09:54 +0000

Just to make it clear, I don’t propose falsely accusing anyone. But, chances are, someone in every large office is on a P2P site.

By: Hannah Nicklin

Hannah Nicklin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:04:18 +0000

Thanks for your comment Terence, I think it’s important to try legal, positive, and recognised routes before the alternatives, point 1 and 3 of yours completely fit in with this. I’d like civil disobedience (the IP action) to be a last resort. But fear we’re nearly at that point. I do think offering an addendum as a recognised way for people with expertise to correct fallacies in proposed legislation should be done though, and as far as I know has not been done yet. Basically, yes, these are also things we need to be doing.

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:54:35 +0000

Thousands of us turned up to protest student tuition fees, tens of thousands against banning fox-hunting, hundred of thousands against the war in Iraq, and what happened? Nothing. Protests are either hijacked or ignored.

I think there are only three things to be done.

1) Physically turn up at your MP’s surgery and tell her that she must not vote for this bill. Don’t write a letter. Don’t sign a petition. Go and see them. Explain to them. Take some friends to see them. Let them know that your vote goes elsewhere if they don’t stop this bill.

2) When the bill passes (and it will) that’s when civil disobedience begins. Find the IP address of an MP, HoC staffer, local council, local school, etc which could conceivably be file sharing. Get them kicked off the Internet. Do it again and again until they see what an unworkable piece of legislation this is.

3) Joining ORG is all well and good (I’m member 615) but also consider joining a political party. I’m not fussed which one – but join and make sure their digital policies are sane.

I like the idea of concerts and protests – and I’m up for joining them – but I don’t think they can make a difference in this case.