illegal downloading

• A lawyer for the IFPI heralded "three strikes" rules, also known as graduated response mechanisms, as a strategy that has an emerging worldwide consensus. (Ars Technica)

Since money and the new music biz seem to be the hot topics this week on the Cream, I thought I'd chime in with something only slightly relevant, and ultimately pretty pointless.

In a first for a music trade group and an ISP, Virgin Media is teaming up with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to educate its customers on illegal downloading.

• A report says Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital Partners LLC are having a tough time coming to terms with Clear Channel and may not go through with the $19.5 billion buyout of the media giant. (AP)

Lots of excuses have been made for illegal downloading. Equally there have been plenty of arguments against it, in addition to tougher laws and increased litigation. Looking back at the last decade, yes it's been that long. (Napster didn't hit the scene until 1999, but there was still plenty of illegal downloading going on. Napster just brought it into the lime-light.)

In the last couple of

John Rodgers reports that a bill before the le

The music industry has for a few months been attacking ISPs from all angles. Check out this article TorrentFreak (which cites this article at Ireland.com) about legal proceedings that have just began in Ireland against an Irish ISP.

Here's a blurb from the Ireland.com article:

The Motion Picture Association of America has revised its estimated losses due to illegal downloading by college students. Initially pegged at 44%, the estimate has been lowered to 14%. A human error was blamed for the initial overstatement.