FAST: ISPs, Copyright Holders Should Become Business Partners

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John Lovelock, chief executive of the Federation Against Software Theft, has apparently given up on trying to force ISPs to protect its outdated business model, saying now that it "must be in the ISPs' commercial interest to work with rights holders to develop mutual business models."

There's the old adage that "if you can beat them, join them," and the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) seems to be taking it to heart. For years it's fought a war against the business model of ISPs and tried to force them into the fight against illegal file-sharing with little success, so now it wants to try a different tactic by intertwining the business models of the two.

"It must be in the ISPs' commercial interest to work with rights holders to develop mutual business models, thus driving customers to buy legitimate products," says FAST's chief executive, John Lovelock. "This would provide both industries with a win-win; and would ensure that SME software houses are not bankrupted by having their expensive bespoke software products shared among businesses without being paid for."

This is from the same outfit that a few years ago called on the UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to make the penalty for online file-sharing offenses as severe as physical commercial piracy. The penalty for commercial dealing in pirated works is ten years in prison.

"The intention and impact of physical and online infringement are the same," said Lovelock at the time.

FAST is seizing on a recent European Commission report which suggested exploring increased involvement by ISPs, online marketplaces, and search engines in the war against online piracy.

"It is absolutely paramount to the future of innovation and creativity that the law keeps pace with technological developments," adds Julian Heathcote Hobbins, FAST's General Counsel. "The creative industry was one of the few growth areas during the last recession, and it continues to be vital for wealth generation. Online piracy must be taken seriously and dealt with if we are to protect and nurture creatives and entrepreneurs."

Is it just me or is it an odd juxtaposition that filtering, throttling, and disconnection are necessary to "protect" and "nurture" content creators? If you look around there's certainly no lack of quality content to choose from.

The number of new albums produced has more than doubled since 2000, and new TV shows and movies are rolled out each year with bigger budgets and box office ticket sales than ever before.

FAST has been desperate for some time now, but begging ISPs to become business partners takes it to a whole new level.

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