Philippine anti-piracy drive to go after downloaders next
Posted by Scout on February 17, 2009
After all the raids on Quiapo and Greenhills shops, and even corporate offices in Makati, the anti-piracy suits are aiming squarely at end-users. The Inquirer has reported that the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT) will be going after those individuals downloading music, movies and software over the Internet, even if they do so for personal use.
Were talking hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of folks here. My question is, do they have enough legal funds to keep their lawyers happy? Do they have the patience to see all these potential court cases through in our painfully slow justice system? Even the RIAA, which did a similar campaign in the US suing music downloaders left and right, has changed its tactic because 1) it didn’t work, they weren’t able to scare people from downloading, and 2) it was costing them a fortune.
Another thing going against them is that currently, there’s no law that categorically says these downloads are illegal. The country’s Intellectual Property Code is silent on the issue, as well as the more recent E-Commerce Law. They’ll have to lobby in Congress for this one. However, even if they do manage to amend these laws, that fact is that people’s perceptions and expectations when it comes to digital content has changed, especially the younger generation. Companies can still make money out of them, but they’ll need to evaluate their business models to keep up with the times. A little creativity on their part is called for. Beware: beating people into submission will only earn you enmity.
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