Iconic British comedian Stephen Fry shocked those in attendance at the recent iTunes Live event when he admitted to using his broadband connection to download both music and TV illegally, using BitTorrent file sharing networks. This has blown open the ongoing discussion regarding illegal file sharing and whether the authorities should be moving towards those who download on an “industrial scale” or those who download for personal use.
In a situation which will bring the subject into the wider arena, Stephen Fry also believes that the recent Digital Britain report is biased towards those in the industry, leaving behind the opinions, hopes and thoughts of consumers. While this is the first time such a leading figure in the UK has publicly admitted to using file sharing networks, it will be interesting to see how the authorities react to this and what the impact will be in the medium to longer term.
Many people believe that consumers have become something of an easy target for the regulators when in fact it is the “industrial scale” users who should be first on the list of targets. However, we should not overlook the fact that under current legislation file sharing of copyrighted material is illegal and should in a perfect world attract the attention of the authorities. What will happen to Stephen Fry?