The BBC says VPN users are content pirates...

[Tynian]

According to Le Beeb, in a published response to the Australian government, anyone using 'IP obfuscation techniques' (such as proxies or VPN's) coupled with 'high' download rates, should automatically be considered guilty of committing illegal activity on the Internet:

"It is reasonable for ISPs to be placed under an obligation to identify user behaviour that is ?suspicious? and indicative of a user engaging in conduct that infringes copyright. Such behaviour may include the illegitimate use by internet users of IP obfuscation tools in combination with high download volumes."

Link at the bottom of the post, but am I the only one sitting here going "lolwut"?

Since when did taking steps to protect your privacy online become an indicator for "Mhm, suspicious!"?

*sigh*

http://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Documents/OnlineCopyrightInfringement/OnlineCopyrightInfringement-BBCWorldwide.pdf

 

[Fappy]

That's like saying that carrying a bottle of soda in a brown paper bag in public should be illegal because it might be a bottle of booze. Also, if simply using VPN's were to be made illegal, every person using them to work remotely out of home offices would be criminals XD

 

[Michel Henzel]

Translation: We would rather assume they are guilty then try and proof they are guilty.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I don't think it will be an automatic "You use a proxy and download a lot, therefore Pirate":

The determination of what an ?illegitimate? use of such tools is, and the threshold of
what would be considered a ?high? download volume over a period of time,would need to take into account legitimate explanations in order to avoid false positives and to safeguard the fundamental rights of consumers?such matters would be open to further industry discussion and agreement.

It would just mean that they focus on tracking and monitoring the traffic of those people for illegal downloads. Which isn't much better to be honest.

 

[shootthebandit]

I work in Saudi Arabia were the internet is heavily censored and I use a VPN to circumvent their strict internet and access iplayer (im a license fee payer) and netflix (for which I have a membership)

However piracy is Saudi is perfectly legal and you dont need a VPN to hide torrenting etc. So ironically if I wanted to pirate something I would just switch off my VPN

 

[Fappy]

I work in Saudi Arabia were the internet is heavily censored and I use a VPN to circumvent their strict internet and access iplayer (im a license fee payer) and netflix (for which I have a membership)

However piracy is Saudi is perfectly legal and you dont need a VPN to hide torrenting etc. So ironically if I wanted to pirate something I would just switch off my VPN

The is some premium irony right there. Thank you for sharing! XD

 

[DefunctTheory]

This is roughly the same as saying that frequent meetings between two people that do not occur in public is illegal, because obviously any non-public meeting between two people must be about prostitution.

Supremely silly.

 

[Twinrehz]

Is this REALLY the BBC being after pirates, or is it just flexing their muscles to show that they think about it? I understand that as a corporation, they need to protect their public interest, much like King.com "needed" to issue a lawsuit against the creators of The Banner Saga, for using the word Saga in their game; is it mostly bark and no bite?

 

[carnex]

All I can see is that every government and media corporation in the world is pinkish red jelous of Great China Firewall. They would love to have one of their own. But tough luck.

When will they learn, it would be easier to prevent breathing than piracy.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well I mean they are completely right and while we're at it we will stop everyone from buying ski masks because everyone who buys a balaclava in these economic times is obviously a bank robber as no one can afford ski holidays.

 

[thewatergamer]

Ehh the BBC and most other mainstream "News Channels" Say stupid crap like this all the time, can't say I'm suprised...

 

[verdant monkai]

Just ignore the BBC guys. Its what the British do.

They aren't quite Fox news but they have their moments.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Well considering my ISP routes everything through a VPN what does that make me?

 

[spartan231490]

Well, there is some truth the statement. The vast majority of people using those techniques to download large amounts are probably pirates. still, using it as probable cause would be a violation of presumption of innocence, since such activity has many legal explanations.

 

[Artaneius]

The thing is though that unless you are doing something either shady or "important" such as running a business, online banking every day, etc. you honestly don't need a VPN. There is a lot of truth in that statement. As a normal person, unless your banking and other financial needs are done strictly online; you don't need a VPN or a proxy. Just like how when SOPA got shut down when Bill Mahrer talked about it. He says "We still want free shit!, that's what they're saying." That comment did pissed off a lot of people but it's true in some ways. Most people didn't want SOPA to pass because of piracy. Not because of the other negative things it would of done to net neutrality.

I understand and believe that people should have VPN's and use proxies if they want too. But don't deny that there is a VERY good portion of people using them for piracy purposes. In fact, I can honestly say with a straight face that most people wouldn't even KNOW what a proxy or VPN was if they didn't pirate. I can say that with a straight face and not feel any guilt about it at all.

 

[Twinrehz]

The thing is though that unless you are doing something either shady or "important" such as running a business, online banking every day, etc. you honestly don't need a VPN. There is a lot of truth in that statement. As a normal person, unless your banking and other financial needs are done strictly online; you don't need a VPN or a proxy. Just like how when SOPA got shut down when Bill Mahrer talked about it. He says "We still want free shit!, that's what they're saying." That comment did pissed off a lot of people but it's true in some ways. Most people didn't want SOPA to pass because of piracy. Not because of the other negative things it would of done to net neutrality.

I understand and believe that people should have VPN's and use proxies if they want too. But don't deny that there is a VERY good portion of people using them for piracy purposes. In fact, I can honestly say with a straight face that most people wouldn't even KNOW what a proxy or VPN was if they didn't pirate. I can say that with a straight face and not feel any guilt about it at all.

SOPA was unreasonable as fuck. All of these things that they try to pull down over our heads (lately the US telecom has tried to pass a law that allows them to charge websites to not be put into an internet slow-lane) is because they want power, they basically want to control the internet, and abuse it as much as possible. Because internet has become so ubiquitous to our daily lives, this is something they can get away with, unless people take action (you can join the cause, just google Open Media international).

Everything that they do, is to take advantage of what people want, to squeeze as much money out of it as possible. I'm primarily not against making money, but large corporations are getting more and more greedy, they try to find places where they can make more money, propagating their wealth by taking more from those lower down. And what do they want the money for? It sure as hell is not to improve infrastructure, that is for FUCKING sure.

This makes me so god damn angry, that I want nothing more than that these big fat directors, who don't care what they do as long as it means more money, to die horribly, while the money that they're hoarding is used to expand and improve infrastructure so that people wouldn't have to rely on ONE shitty provider that fucks their customers in the ass and demanding that you give them more money so that they can plow you even harder, all the while getting away with lies and deceit.

(Maybe I'm overreacting, but I HATE greedy corporations).

 

[Artaneius]

The thing is though that unless you are doing something either shady or "important" such as running a business, online banking every day, etc. you honestly don't need a VPN. There is a lot of truth in that statement. As a normal person, unless your banking and other financial needs are done strictly online; you don't need a VPN or a proxy. Just like how when SOPA got shut down when Bill Mahrer talked about it. He says "We still want free shit!, that's what they're saying." That comment did pissed off a lot of people but it's true in some ways. Most people didn't want SOPA to pass because of piracy. Not because of the other negative things it would of done to net neutrality.

I understand and believe that people should have VPN's and use proxies if they want too. But don't deny that there is a VERY good portion of people using them for piracy purposes. In fact, I can honestly say with a straight face that most people wouldn't even KNOW what a proxy or VPN was if they didn't pirate. I can say that with a straight face and not feel any guilt about it at all.

SOPA was unreasonable as fuck. All of these things that they try to pull down over our heads (lately the US telecom has tried to pass a law that allows them to charge websites to not be put into an internet slow-lane) is because they want power, they basically want to control the internet, and abuse it as much as possible. Because internet has become so ubiquitous to our daily lives, this is something they can get away with, unless people take action (you can join the cause, just google Open Media international).

Everything that they do, is to take advantage of what people want, to squeeze as much money out of it as possible. I'm primarily not against making money, but large corporations are getting more and more greedy, they try to find places where they can make more money, propagating their wealth by taking more from those lower down. And what do they want the money for? It sure as hell is not to improve infrastructure, that is for FUCKING sure.

This makes me so god damn angry, that I want nothing more than that these big fat directors, who don't care what they do as long as it means more money, to die horribly, while the money that they're hoarding is used to expand and improve infrastructure so that people wouldn't have to rely on ONE shitty provider that fucks their customers in the ass and demanding that you give them more money so that they can plow you even harder, all the while getting away with lies and deceit.

(Maybe I'm overreacting, but I HATE greedy corporations).

That's how life has always been since the beginning. The only difference is now since the internet has came to be we are a lot more aware about how much we are being used by the rich. But just knowing about it isn't going to stop it. Only way to stop it is by destroying the entire economy and people making lots of sacrifices. Not going to happen anytime soon.

 

[CymbaIine]

since when was watching Doctor Who or Sherlock in Australia become "taking steps to protect your privacy online" ?

i mean really who do think you are kidding ?

lets be clear here for a moment:

the BBC iPlayer is directly funded by THE BRITISH PEOPLE via the television licence fee and that includes the costs of bandwidth/infrastructure etc to support it.

in terms of cost the BBC licence fee works out at about £15 a month if viewed as a subscription.

WHY SHOULD WE PAY FOR YOU TO WATCH IT ?

there is no agreeable answer to that as far as i can see.

sure you can watch whatever program you like on something like BBC America or another station with ads where it is bought and paid for to be shown etc, etc but you don't really have any kind of right to watch ad free BBC content unless your household actually pays the fees that funds it.

and lets just say theoretically everyone in the world could watch it freely...
well done you just basically economically ruined the BBC...
hyeprbole ofc (we'd shut iPlayer down before that) but you get the point; it's not "a free lunch".

i don't care if this reported situation is the right way to deal with it or not but the idea of us funding your entertainment to the tune of £150 a year is not on...

I pay my license fee and I don't mind who wants to use a VPN to watch whatever shite they have on there. I only listen to Radio 4 anyway which is probably worth about 20p a month. Yall can have the other £14.80s worth.... also £15?? Is that really how much I pay for it? I may have to cancel it as I am really not getting my moneys worth... OH WAIT I CANT.