Why does Mandelson favour the Analogue Economy over the Digital?; Guardian, 11/26/09

Cory Doctorow, Guardian; Why does Mandelson favour the Analogue Economy over the Digital?:

Britons' love for filesharing is here to stay – and Peter Mandelson had better get used to it

"There's a lot to hate about Peter Mandelson's controversial Digital Economy Bill, but there's one provision that perfectly captures the absolute, reality-denying absurdity of the whole enterprise. That titbit is the provision that holds the Bill's most drastic measures in reserve, only to be used if Britain's illegal filesharing doesn't drop off by 70% within a year of the main part of the Bill coming into force.

The idea that, at some time in the future, the volume of unauthorised copying will somehow drop off at all (let alone by an astounding 70%), is, frankly, barking. For that to happen, Britain's general capacity for copying would have to decline faster than the increase in the British desire to make unauthorised copies.

Where does Britain's capacity to copy spring from?

First, from the increase in the speed of computers: faster computers can copy faster and better."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/26/digital-economy-file-sharing-mandelson