A few thoughts on illegal file sharing...

You don't have to be a genius to figure it out - but being a bit "thick" when it suits you certainly helps if you like to think that illegal downloading of music and films is a "victimless crime".

Setting aside the almost total destruction of the niche record store industry worldwide let's take, by way of a small example, the collapse of the distributor Pinnacle and the three UK retailers Woolworths, Fopp and Zavvi.

All of these companies were heavily dependant on the sales of recorded music and DVDs - for years it formed the core of their businesses. Thousands of their employees have been laid off as a result of the closure of their respective stores and offices across the UK. These people are victims, victims of mass theft in a virtual world where the perpetrators involved ease their consciences by assuming that what they are doing is harming no one and that they have some sort of devine right to make a commercial decision on the part of a third party.

The supposed "victimless" nature of illegal downloading of music and films has been exposed as a lie, flawed in every sense of the word.

Those who use the lamest of arguments - that they buy music / DVDs if they like them after downloading them - should now stop deluding themselves that they are not thieves. Their actions have directly resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, they have stolen and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of the aforementioned employees directly and, consequently, adversely affected their families.

Let's be honest about this. None of these employees or store owners were the fat cat millionaires or copyright barons that illegal downloaders are supposedly fighting against, were they? No, they were ordinary people trying to make an honest living. Try explaining to them the flawed rationale behind the often quoted assertion that "an illegal download isn't necessarily a lost sale".

If the pro illegal filesharing argument is to stack up in any shape or form it has to acknowledge that its "battle" with the creative industries is not with the creators but with the model itself. That said, now that there is a democratically elected representative in the European Parliament who is in a position to further advocate their campaign - if indeed that is all that their political objective was about - will that representative be calling for even a temporary suspension of the abuse of P2P technology in order that the matter might be discussed and potentially resolved in a democratic and entirely legal fashion? I don't think so.

The arguments, both for and against illegal downloading, are well rehearsed. Interestingly the "pro" illegal downloading argument is based on a mindset of "free" and their telling people in the creative industries how best they should market their works. It's no coincidence that those who espouse illegal downloading are not dependant on the sale of creative works for the food they put on their tables.

Enough of this nonsense by already globally established artists that illegal downloading is fine - would they put forward the same argument were it not for the fact that they are already rich, famous and globally established having screwed every cent possible from the industry and the fans on their way to getting there only to find that the industry, haemmoraging from the impact of illegal downloading, was neither prepared, nor in a position, to concede to their ever excessive advance demands and deal terms? Hardly. The phrase "Poacher turned gamekeeper" comes to mind. Think about it, why are there no unsigned acts singing the praises of someone stealing their songs and their making no money whatsoever from it? Bear in mind that there is a difference between artists deciding to give their works away for free and someone else making that decision for them.

The facts of the matter are that the actions of illegal downloaders have long since started to come home to roost and real people - just like you, your mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, husband or wife are losing their jobs, houses, cars and families.

The Bats