Mandelson is a real piece of shit

If the government gets its way, anyone caught downloading music will have their internet connections either strangled or cut completely.

Our friend at Gravy Train Central [parliament] Lord Mandelson is behind this initiative saying: "Downloading somebody's work without paying for it – whether it be music, film or computer games – is not a victimless act. It poses a genuine threat to our creative industries and to the livelihoods of talented, hard-working people striving to get a foothold in them." Anyone remotely sane would agree with him; most people don't work for free and nobody expects them to.

The fact that stealing is wrong is not the issue at hand – anyone with any love for music wouldn't condone stealing it on a massive scale and not contributing to the industry. What Mandy needs to ask himself however is 'why people steal?' Here's a clue: it's because they're poor, desperate and addicted. It's a shame he's too stupid to see that this addiction is ultimately beneficial to the industry because eventually these illegal downloaders will spend money; I mean a night out to a gig is hardly a cheap affair now is it? A ticket can cost anything between £5 and £100, a t-shirt £15 to £25, £5 on a travel-card, £5 on food… the list goes on.

Further to that, it is possible to legally stream almost everything anyway. YouTube and Spotify allow users to legally stream music and music videos because they pay for licences, which are in turn paid for by advertising and subscriptions (as is the case with Spotify). A simple Ad-Blocker, which anyone with more than 2 brains cells has, will quickly deal with the adverts and the industry is back to square one – well, except this time it's not illegal. Not really a solution to the problem after all.

All cutting off and demonising music stealers will do is piss them off and make them resentful. First rule of business: never alienate your market. If the industry continues as it is, people will lose interest in music. Anyone who's not completely devoid of common sense can see that

The issue has been in the spotlight for so long now that even fossils such as Elton John and Gary Kemp have stuck their noses in, not to mention a couple of artists who are actually relevant [albeit rubbish] such as Lily Allen and James Blunt. But what they all have in common is that they're on the other side of the fence, have money and have all sold a bucket load regardless. Whether or not they support the proposals, their opinions are disproportionately valuable. Chances are, they probably get sent music for free anyway. It's all very similar to America's stance on Iran's nuclear programme: do as we say not as we do, huh?

I originally wrote this article for Fame Online