Download a Sex Offender Today

Apparently, if you illegally download films from the web, you are also likely to steal money from office whip rounds. At least that seems to be the message of the 'Knock Off Nigel' ad campaign running on TV at the moment. I really do find these ads quite offensive in their desperate attempts to manipulate people's perception of downloaders. The whole idea that just because someone indulges in a form of white-collar crime (which most people don't even consider a real crime), they will start stealing from their colleagues is pathetic beyond words. If you are going to indulge in such fact-free name calling, then why not go the whole hog and say that if you illegally download, then you are probably a sex offender, or even a paedophile. Surely if you want to frighten people off of downloading then that's the route to take - download a Coldplay track and you'll turn into a slavering sex fiend.

It precisely this kind of hyperbole which has resulted in the public's lack of sympathy for the recording and broadcasting industries campaign against illegal downloading, (I'm assuming that it is the industry which is behind these ads, which appear to carry no attribution). Equating depriving a wealthy multinational corporation with profits in the billions of dollars with office theft is clearly idiotic. Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't condone illegal downloading. It does constitute theft and, arguably, deprives artists both of royalties and creative control over their work. However, the reality is that the level of royalties the vast majority of artists receive from the corporations is minuscule, and to get even this meagre remuneration, most have been forced to effectively relinquish all creative control, anyway. The reality is that a lot of illegal downloading and copying goes on because of the recording and film industries overcharging for their products. Moreover, if they'd got to grips with new distribution methods like the web in the first place, and established sensible models for commercial downloading, they probably wouldn't be facing this problem now. Or, at least, not on this scale. But let's be realistic, the corporations are as addicted to their profiteering as the downloaders are to not paying for anything. So, for the foreseeable future we're going to be seeing yet more of this puerile name calling.