Just written the following on a Digital Spy Forum about Torrenting and Downloads:
"One view of the illegal download thing. It's a mad idea, but.......
Once upon a time we produced cars, they were arguably a little
unreliable, came with vinyl seats and had a lot of wood in. You had to
pay extra for a radio and a heated rear window to keep your hands warm
when you were pushing it down the hill to start it in Winter.
Then along came these naughty Japanese chaps, they brought in these
funny little cars with free radios, heated rear windows, fluffy corduroy
seats and a unique plasticky smell of sick in the shiny new interior.
They started in Winter as well!
So we had to take notice and offer a better deal ourselves or the pesky Japanese would put us out of business.
The rest is history, but we did try to compete to begin with.
If this was handled the same way as the internet - we'd fining everyone
who bought a Japanese car before banning them completely!
(In a way we did do this, because at first only a certain number of
Japanese cars were allowed to come into the country each year).
Yes, on the one hand - not paying for things is naughty and different
from the analogy up there - Yes! You didn't get hundreds of people
taking cars for test drives and then stealing them.
Although - in the eighties you did get a hell of a lot of people
importing their cars from Europe - legitimately - because the prices of
Cars in the UK was higher than the list price in France or the
Netherlands for instance. In the end the Govt and UK car industry had
to take notice and bring prices in line.
I think the Music and Film industry has been caught on the hop. I think
they've taken a head in the sand Dinosaur attitude to new technology
and have missed the boat.
Had they seen the extra potential for sales via streaming on the net -
they would have set up their own hugely promoted websites offering
affordable downloads.
After all - the history of business is quite often that someone else
comes along and does it cheaper - which is what healthy competition is
all about? Surely the multimillion dollar recording industry bods could
afford to knock a bit off their own prices? It's not as if they pay some
of their stars all that well to start with!
Trouble is - they haven't. They've treated the net with contempt (Just a
theory) and they've ended up being well and truly shafted. You have
always had Pirates! Who can forget "Home Taping is Killing Music!!"
Well, it didn't did it?
So the last resort of the Publishing Companies is simply to get together
with their Pals in Government to clamp down on everyone and smack
people's bums. When all they needed to do was to offer these services
themselves in the first place!
But they didn't. It's Sour Grapes and Laziness on their part.
Don't jump on me - I'm just putting forward a light hearted view,
just a whacky idea. It's not wholly how or what I think about it -
Just sticking a book on the table to see if anyone wants to look at it.
Thought you might like to have fun with it!" 
When we were heading towards the last election. I knew for a fact that with the Tories back in - the NHS would disappear. I also knew that the the Welfare State as it was wouldn't be far behind. It's what they do. No amount of shiny suits and shiny haircuts could disguise the fact that the "New Tories" were just made up of the same old failed Ministers from the last time around. Such a shame that so many did fall for it.
After 1997 there was an interview with a Junior Minister in the Major Government who said that there was a "Green Paper" or a discussion paper going around Tory Central Office looking at options for introducing competition (aka "Privatisation") into the NHS once they were re-elected. I never forgot this and knew it would get dusted off once they got back in.
This latest round of cuts announced yesterday is really scraping the bottom of the barrel though in regards to fairness. It is Demonisation and Victimisation of the worst kind. You'll think it extreme and an exaggeration to suggest it - but they are on edges of Nazi-ism. I feel ashamed at daring to suggest something that is - in a normal democracy - laughable, but there you are. I've said it and it does appear to be a stone's throw from what the Tories are doing.
Instead of a "Bedroom Tax" - How easy would it have been to introduce a couple of extra tiers to the Council Tax Bands and impose taxes on Mansions that would be appropriate to their size? Have a look at your Council Tax Bands - Go on! What's the percentage difference between Band A and Band G, or H or whatever the last one is these days? Not much is it? Perhaps that could change?
Equally, Instead of cutting off small businesses by not lending, not supporting jobs or encouraging people to set up on their own, would it be so difficult to get some money out of the very Bankers who caused the crash in the first place? The "Banking Transaction Tax" could do just that - and put money back into your community to support your services.
Whilst we're on the idea of "Predictions", The Minimum Wage. As soon as Cameron started on about his "Big Society" - didn't you guess that it was just there to undermine it? When Job Centres came up with Workfare? Wasn't it too easy? As soon as there were enough volunteers doing good work in the community - how easy would it be to cut, freeze or just let fade away the Minimum Wage? After all - It was the Tories who cut out the old "Wages Council" in the early nineties - so it was only a matter of time before they did the same once again. So obvious, so predictable, so why didn't anyone else realise?
But they won't do that. In the old "Divide and Rule" cliché. In the old "Laugh at the little guy" bullying tactics of the Classroom, this bunch of schoolboys just want to pick on you, pick on what you do, make fun of your clothes and hair and - oh yes! Pinch your Dinner Money.
