Some time ago I gave a few examples of practical, everyday benefits of being a part of the United Kingdom as distinct from the Republic of Ireland. I've stumbled across further examples on a semi-regular basis since then, but I couldn't believe that the iPhone hadn't been released (officially) in "Ireland" [sic] yet.

Apparently there are a few complaints that the price of the iPhone in the rip-off Republic is going to be even higher than the price in the United Kingdom (of rip-off Britain and rip-off Northern Ireland) when it is finally launched down south (where it also looks like being an O2 exclusive), just 4 months after UK consumers got their mits on the device.

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There's plenty wrong with copyright laws in this country. Instead of fixing those things though, the government want ISPs to do their dirty work, monitor everything you download and ban users from the internet if they download copyrighted material. There are so many things wrong with this I don't know where to start!

1. It's an invasion of privacy. This is the most immediately obvious problem. That's fair enough if you're one of those downloading illegal content, but it's essentially treating everyone as guilty (by stripping them of their right to privacy) until proven innocent. There isn't even a "reasonable grounds for suspicion" protection.

2. It's not technologically feasible. Discussing this very issue, one ISP that monitors the types of traffic on their network quite closely reports that 40% of BitTorrent (a popular filesharing application) is now encrypted. What this means is that the technology already exists, and is quite widely used, to prevent interception and examination of data. It's not the first time the politicians have gone riding in half-cocked without understanding what they're talking about when it comes to the series of tubes known in technical circles as "the internet" though. Did they really think 22 MPs signing an Early Day Motion "demanding" faster broadband speeds in the countryside would alter the laws of physics?

3. It would be expensive. The government keeps talking about its priority to improve broadband access (there's even a minister responsible for it!). How is that objective going to be affected when ISPs have to jack up their prices to pay for the development and/or purchase of this monitoring software which will probably prove ineffective in the longrun anyway?

There's a few issues to start with anyway (and I've not even touched on the many ways in which piracy actually benefits consumers by forcing big companies to reform their monopoly-abusing habits, that's for another day). As I've said before, there are bigger issues with UK copyright law as it stands than spotty teenagers downloading music or films in their darkened bedrooms and the government are coming at this, as government is inclined to do, from completely the wrong side of the argument.

I've been following a discussion on the Ulster Nation group about a supposed 'Ulster national anthem'. I thought it was interesting (not to mention quite ironic in that it ended with the words "a nation once again"). Not overly fussed on the God references, but a decent effort. (The tune, "Jesus Only" is here and a cheerier, if briefer, version is here).

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On my post on Getting Women Into Politics on Thursday I made reference to "some doll from the women's coalition." It seems my sense of humour may have been out of sync with some of my readers on this one so for the sake of clarity I began hunting the web for a definion of 'irony' and lo and behold Wikipedia led me to this explanation. It's a belter.

The relevant part runs from 30 seconds in until the end of the clip.

... or so we're told, but what is piracy exactly?

When people are profiting by selling bootleg DVDs at Nutt's Corner that's blatantly wrong. When someone downloads a track from a file-sharing network before taking the plunge to by an album, that's maybe questionable (but I for one wouldn't hold it against them). However, when sports fans make up their own lyrics to a song to take the piss out of the opposition, I'm quite sure any right-thinking person would consider that fair use.

Well, maybe not. Apparently this "piracy" stuff is much more widespread than you might think, at least if the latest threat from recording company EMI is anything to go by.

EMI says The Fanatics' Ashes songbook breached copyright because it included altered lyrics to songs such as Go West by the Village People and Daydream Believer by The Monkees.
ABC.net.au

As a result, EMI have threatened legal action. This will cost them a fortune and will, with any luck, be completely fruitless. Of course they will pass the costs on to the consumer and blame it on "pirates," all based on fundamentally false mathematics about what piracy actually costs them.

What this incident makes clear is that it's time the UK introduced some realistic, clearly defined fair-use protections into their copyright laws. UK law currently has very few protections - even parody is not explicitly allowed, so theoretically we could have big corporations here throwing their weight around in a similarly archaic and oppressive fashion. Maybe if we're lucky Tony and friends might find some time between invading middle-eastern countries to remedy the situation before this blight hits our shores. I'll not hold my breath though.

IPod Observer reports that the RIAA believe people who buy music shouldn't be allowed to listen to that music how, when and where they choose. During the forumulation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the RIAA argued that copying music from a CD to an MP3 player was not fair use. (In the UK, as far as I know, the law agrees with them; you're not permitted to make copies of material, even for your own use so technically you could be prosecuted.) Outrageous, no?

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That Irish bloke from the X-Factor, or Louis Walsh as he is occasionally known, has branded Big Brother winner Anthony talentless amidst rumours of the geordie attempting to land a part in a musical and/or releasing a single off the back of his new found 'fame'.

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You really can get a free iPod, even colour iPods

You may have read the post I made at EverythingUlster.com a few weeks back called "Free Colour/Photo iPods Hit UK" where I explained how you could get a free iPod by signing up to a free trial. If you haven't read it already, you might want to read it now.

In short you get a free iPod for signing up to a free trial with an online DVD rental company called ScreenSelect (it really is free, even the return postage on the DVDs is pre-paid by them). Like any TGTBT offer, there are catches, but if you follow a few simple steps you can make sure your iPod really is free.

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Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, some of the students in work were having their leaving do (hopefully me and a couple of the other students will get a separate one in a couple of weeks time but we'll see). Anyway, I wasn't in the house long enough to do much by the way of typing but I'll make sure the songs keep coming.

Today's song is The Green Glens of Antrim, composed in 1950 by Kenneth North. This is another song that I only heard about when someone suggested it as a Northern Ireland national anthem on the Our Wee Country website. When I first heard it it reminded me vividly of Graham's Record Shop (RIP) in Portrush. It's that old country/folky type music with accordians and what to my untrained ear sounds like an accoustic guitar in the background (at least that's the version I heard by Foster and Allen). If you want to know what sort of song it is, Daniel O'Donnell has also performed a version for at least one of his albums! Sure yer granny'll love it!

The song tells of a traveller who has left Ulster and longs to return to the beautiful scenery of the glens and to one particular person in particular ("the one that's been aye in my mind") that he left behind in Cushendun (or Cushendall depending who you believe).

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From one extreme to the other today. Following yesterday's Danny Boy is something (a little) more modern from the Stiff Little fingers. I mentioned their "Alternative Ulster" in my introduction to this series of posts on Sunday but didn't include it because I thought this song was even more relevant. It's called "Each Dollar A Bullet" and attempts to dispel the romantic notion so many "Irish-Americans" (among others) have of the "armed campaign". Those familiar with Alternative Ulster or Incendiary Device may find the introduction quite musically restrained in comparison, but after a moving 35 seconds or so the pace picks up.

The introduction is especially poignant, with a dig at the plastic-paddy, tear for Ireland, dollar for the struggle mentality some clearly have. Once the point has been made (I feel) the guitars kick into overdrive and take over. That said, aside from the fact that I only first heard about this song a week or two back, there's not much else I can say about it. the song speaks for itself, and it really does speak. Can you tell I really like this? Put it this way, the album's in the post!

(I'd actually got this far down the post before I realised the song fits in nicely with today's EU Quote of the Day.)

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