If you live in France, or if you have the dough to travel all the way over there, make it a point to be at the Arc de triomphe du Carrousel near the Louvre on March 28 –two days from now! This day is going to go down in the history books as Download Day.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why it is called such. This event has been organized to protest a new law in the country. Obviously, the law is all about NOT downloading illegally. It threatens – and strongly – to “cut off” those who are caught downloading media illegally. This law is being put to vote in the National Assembly right now.

The organizers behind Download Day are encouraging people to participate by coming to one of the four locations in France. If you do plan on going, you should bring along:

Rare work such as a hard-to-find film or piece of music “that they want to keep in the public memory” and other pieces available through a creative commons licence.

The files can be brought on CD, DVD, or usb stick and will be uploaded on to peer-to-peer file exchange sites.

Other cities included in the event are Marseille, Toulouse, and Lyon. For more information, you can also visit the web site and the Twitter link. Everything is in French, however, so you might need a translator to do the work for you.

Last thoughts – this blog is all about LEGAL downloading, true. Still, I cannot overlook such an activity as this. It’s worth taking note of, right?

Categories: Random Thoughts

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While countless people download files illegally in the United States, it is common knowledge that some of the best hackers are located somewhere in Europe. Ask any file sharing enthusiast and they will name their favorite hacker, probably someone in Europe. And that is why the telecommunications sector in the European Union is gearing up its campaign to encourage legal downloading.

PC World recently featured this issue and this is what they had to say:

ETNO, the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association, launched a Web site Monday designed to raise awareness about the music, movies and TV programs legally offered online through its members, Europe’s largest telecom providers.

The aim is to reduce the amount of illegal downloading of content online, and comes as European lawmakers consider pleas from the record industry and Hollywood movie studios to clamp down harder on the practice.

Naturally, those who are producing legal material are not satisfied with these efforts. They want their money, and they want it fast. Some countries in the EU have taken more drastic measures against those who engage in illegal downloading. Take the example of France. They “have taken a more draconian approach to online copyright abuse by threatening to ban illegal file sharers from the Internet with the so-called three strikes and you are out rule.”

We shall see how this new move by ETNO will affect downloading – both the legal and illegal. In my mind, I think that they have to go further than creating awareness. What do you think?

Categories: Downloading Legally

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