WHAT IS BPI BOYCOTT
Put quite simply, the BPI Boycott is a direct response to the Digital Economy Bill and the questionable way in which is has been brought about, amended and rushed through parliament.[*] It is designed to be a public demonstration to major corporations that lobbying government for disproportionate, damaging and ill-considered legislation is not the way to either combat file-sharing or falling profit margins[*]. Society and the way it consumes media is changing; it is time for those who take it upon themselves to supply that media to stop trying to avoid the inevitable and change too or be allowed to fail[*].
Incentivising should be the first step, criminalising the last, not the other way around. With mainstream tracks costing anywhere between a rare but reasonable 29p to the most common and utterly ridiculous 79p it is time for the british public to take action. A digital file with little storage and duplication overheads, absolutely no packaging costs and no printing costs should not be getting sold at a standard rate equivalent to a Compact Disc. This is what is costing the BPI members it’s loss of sales and it’s loss of good will with it’s customers resulting in increased piracy. We believe that a stand has to be made to prove that sales are not just lost to downloaders but to disenfranchised customers who have had enough of being exploited financially for years and who now face the even more grim fate of being exploited technologically.
HOW DO I JOIN THE BPI BOYCOTT
You literally don’t have to do anything. The BPI claims that illicit downloading costs it £200 million in lost sales every year[*] (It has been suggested that this figure assumes every illicit download is a lost sale, however, the BPI deny this[*]. Many economist have already rubbished this mechanic[*] but how the figure was actually calculated is still unclear). Government says that the only real way to counter this is through the threats and intimidation of three strikes and forced disconnection[*] and a new amendment which grants almost carte blanch to force ISPs to block access to sites which are “likely” (Government’s word) to hold copyrighted material without permission[*]. It is the BPI Boycott‘s aim to show that enforcing and thus condoning these disproportionate measures will cost it real actual loss of sales. All BPI Boycott asks of you is that you do not pay out of your own pocket for any music sold under the banner of a BPI member. It is also our aim to try and promote as many simple and free ways to legitimately access the music you love, without spending your hard earned cash on their outmoded business methods.
BPI BOYCOTT DOES NOT ENDORSE FILE-SHARING
It’s easy to assume that those we target our actions at will come out and muddy the waters simply accusing us of encouraging illicit downloading and promoting piracy. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are numerous 100% free outlets for music which BPI Boycott will actively direct you to on this website and we encourage you to use. We also happily endorse any bands or artists who are currently working around the “big label” model to promote and sell their work. While we will not dictate to people joining our cause how they get their music fix, we can’t and won’t condone file-sharing as that method.
WHAT NEXT?
Stay tuned to the website because in the coming days and weeks we will update with lots of new content. Why not join our Facebook Fan page or follow us on Twitter?
