Dont get me wrong I'm not defending piracy, however the freedom of information at the core of the internet, is not freedom of access to copyrighted material.
It is up to the owner to decide how they distribute THEIR content, not someone uploading it for the whole world to 'SHARE'.
Freedom of information YES, freedom of access to copyrighted material NO.
Even you had written a thesis for uni, you spent 9 months on it, some **** stole your usb stick with a copy and uploaded on to the internet, now every one is using your work and modifying it for their own uses....
Without your consent you would be pretty ****ed no?
Basically we have reached a point in the evolution of copyright/internet where the ubiquitous nature of the digital realm is opposed to the physical reality, and the established business models do not know how to cope with the free nature of information on the internet.
So all they are doing is thrashing around like a fish caught in a fishermans net looking for anything for an answer.
They'v tried suing websites etc... it doesnt work... so now they are going to introduce national blacklists, EU firewall's etc.....
Already France and the USA have far worse things in place.
The UK is next, thanks to that pos bill the 'Digital Economy Act'.
Supposedly April 2011 was going to be the first round of letter to suspected filesharers, however they werent ready so I think they are due some time next year.
At the end of the day, ANY law will get passed as long as it goes through a democratic process.
There is a famous theory in political science called 'The Tyranny of the majority/masses'. In other words even a democratic process can be a form of oppression.