UK members: The Digital Economy Bill - PLEASE take action!

[Dave S]

Hi all,

This is for the attention of those of us in the UK.

It's not often I'd advocate writing to your MP (I tend to regard all 
politicians in the same poor light), but in this instance, I really hope some 
of you might want to spend a couple of minutes sending an email.

If you're game already and don't need to read any further, then just go here:
http://bit.ly/debatethebill

Here's a quick summary from an email I received about it:

"The Digital Economy Bill is about to rammed through Parliament by Mandelson 
without debate or scrutiny. 

Disconnection, backdoor web censorship and the death of open wifi could all 
become a reality - without any proper democratic debate - because Parliament 
is nearing an election and time is running out.

The Bill is a mess, and could create appalling consequences for citizens and 
the future of the web. It needs scrutiny, and MPs deserve their say."


But moreover, it's a vital thing for independent musicians such as ourselves 
to be aware of.  The consequences of this bill could either be the moment 
where we really start to make a breakthrough in the UK (if it is turned down 
and "The Music Industry" doesn't get it's way), or where we are crushed by 
masses of litigation and disconnection for just about anything.

Perhaps even disconnection for sampling things we weren't "allowed" to... I 
kid you not, it could very easily happen!  (That is, after all a form of 
"copyright infringement", which is covered by this bill.)

So, if you're short on time, you can just send the pre-written email from the 
link I gave above: http://bit.ly/debatethebill

I was going to adjust it for my own purposes, but actually ended up spending 
an hour and a bit writing the following email. I'm sure it's perhaps a bit 
long and waffly, but do feel free to infringe my copyright ;-) and borrow 
anything you want from it in order to make your point.  It follows after my 
signature here.

Cheers,

~Dave

==================

Dear Mark Williams,

I'm sure by now you've probably heard of the Digital Economy Bill - a 
controversial new Bill that is being rushed through without a full 
Parliamentary debate. I would hope that being a Lib Dem, you are probably 
already opposed to that kind of thing - both the undemocratic rushing, and 
much of the draconian contents of the Bill too.

Industry experts, internet service providers (like Talk Talk and BT) and huge 
internet companies like Google and Yahoo are all opposing the bill - yet the 
Government seems intent on forcing it through.

But just in case you haven't already recieved a thousand emails about this, 
and need a little more convincing, I thought I would write.

My position is perhaps a somewhat interesting one in all of this: I am a web 
designer by trade, and I am also a semi-professional musician. This bill is 
likely to have far-reaching consequences for me, even if I don't ever fall 
foul of anything it contains.

If I ever DID fall foul of it, the government could likely end both of my 
careers in one fell swoop. This is because the Bill will allow the government 
(or perhaps far more likely, "The Music Industry" via the government) to 
disconnect people it even SUSPECTS of copyright infringement.

According to a recent leaked memo, "The Music Industry" is reported to be 
fully behind this Bill, and very keen to see it rushed through.

I beg to differ! The so-called "Music Industry" is little more than a cartel 
of extremely powerful multinational marketing companies, who have had a 
stranglehold on the music we can and can't hear for decades.

There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of small-time musicians such as 
myself - who have been playing in bands for years, writing and producing music 
and being actively involved in the cultural arts which still make the UK stand 
out at this moment in time - who never get so much as a look-in from "The 
Music Industry". In fact, I know several hundred such people myself - maybe 
you even know a few? (We're not very hard to find!)

Regardless of one's taste in music, it is undeniable that "The Music Industry" 
is driven by marketing and profits alone. That is why, right now, thousands of 
talented, dedicated musicians and producers such as myself, are denied a 
living wage from our art.

Those of us who are making music which is not considered "mainstream 
marketable" have been unable to make a living from our music for decades 
already - precisely because "The Music Industry" has such a massive amount of 
control over everything, and is first and foremost in the business of making 
money for a handful of wealthy businessmen.

Unless you are in bed with them, it's virtually impossible to make enough 
money doing this to put food on the table - however good you are, and however 
hard you work! Abuses of musicians by the powerful forces of "The Music 
Industry" have been occurring for decades, and are well documented. Deliberate 
creation of massive debts from musicians to record labels is just one of the 
many tactics that the big labels are only too happy to use to keep musicians 
as little more than wage slaves.

(Legendary rock producer Steve Albini wrote an article in the 90s called "The 
Problem With Music", detailing exactly the level of exploitation which was 
routine at that point, and still goes on to this day. It can be found online, 
and is very enlightening reading if you happen to be interested!)

Luckily, thanks to the Internet, the tables are turning - unstoppably so, in 
fact!

It is now relatively easy for people like me to develop an online fanbase, and 
to get our music heard by a much wider audience, without having to bow down to 
the mobsters in control of the distribution channels, the marketing and the 
money.

In fact, my music career has never been better! In a month or so, I'm about to 
release my first solo album though a small independent record label - a 
democratically operated collective, as it happens - and it will almost 
certainly get picked up by a couple of thousand people in the UK, and perhaps 
a few more around the world.

If I am lucky, I may just about receive enough income from this to do 
something really exciting, like pay off a chunk of my (reasonably small, but 
crippling nonetheless) overdraft. If it goes exceptionally well and gets good 
reviews, the 20 or so of us in our collective may be one step closer to being 
able to support ourselves, doing what we do best: making original music!

If you will, just imagine for a moment the possibility of 20 young, creative 
people being able to support themselves doing something they love, operating a 
fully democratic company for the benefit of all involved. That sounds like the 
kind of thing my dreams are made of! That sounds like the kind of democratic 
digital economy we ought to be heading towards - and there's no reason it 
couldn't become a reality. We just need to create the circumstances for it to 
happen.

Whatever "The Music Industry" say, there is definitely a market for the work 
of people like myself - although those of us who write music do it out of love 
more than anything else, because it's impossible for us to ignore such a 
primal urge to be creative. That is perhaps why we're such easy targets for 
exploitation, and why those currently in control will do anything to stop us 
from being able to operate without them. (Never mind that the horse has 
already bolted - they're still trying to close the stable door!)

Where am I heading with all this, you may be asking?

There are a multitude of reasons why "The Music Industry" have seen huge dents 
in their profits over the last decade or so. They are only too happy to blame 
"online piracy", but in fact the reality of the situation is far more 
complicated than that.

Nowadays, it's generally not possible for most musicians (even those on major 
record labels) to to make a living from selling albums. The way to making a 
living out of it is from touring, merchandise, and from developing a really 
good connection with your fans - directly, online, with no middle-men.

The major record labels are dinosaurs, whose outdated business model operates 
on the exploitative principles of scarcity and control. Neither of these ways 
of looking at things is applicable in the digital age.

Scarcity of product and the need for physical distribution is no longer very 
relevant. It costs peanuts for me to sell my MP3s online, and I can single-
handedly achieve worldwide distribution in a matter of minutes.

Control of the distribution channels was blown open by the Internet, and yet 
"The Music Industry" refused to embrace it early while they had the chance.

Clearly, people will pay 99p to download a piece of music - hence the success 
of things like Apple iTunes - even when those same pieces of music can be 
found for free elsewhere. But it took Napster (an early file sharing system) 
and years of litigation nightmares before "The Music Industry" was forced to 
alter it's business model.

They simply dug their heels in all the way, and used their massive amounts of 
clout to close down innovative competitors and scare consumers, in order to 
preserve the status quo.

"The Music Industry" do not have anybody's best interests at heart - not least 
musicians or fans of music, certainly not British culture, and probably not 
even the British economy. They are simply interested in propping up their 
failed business model and ensuring their own control, for as long as it is 
possible to do so, using any means necessary, and with no regard for any of 
the cultural damage they will do in the process.

With this Digital Economy Bill, it will be considerably easier for them to do 
just that. If so inclined, they could disconnect (and thus disempower) someone 
like myself very easily - and there is every reason to suspect that this is 
exactly what will happen, if this bill is allowed to go through.

It is undemocratic, draconian and not in the best interests of the people of 
Britain.

Therefore, as a constituent, I would ask you to strongly oppose this bill, 
ensure proper debate over it, and do your part to help secure a real Digital 
Economy for Britain - one in which individuals and collectives may freely make 
a living for themselves, without having to succumb to the whims of an existing 
business cartel. Please don't allow them steamroller over our rights, in their 
battle against a truly democratic DIY music culture.

Some industries have just had their day, and either need to adapt, or be 
allowed to fail. "The Music Industry" as it currently stands is no exception - 
we musicians will be a lot better off without it, and will gladly create 
something far more exciting to replace it.

Many thanks for your time.

Yours sincerely,

David Silvester