As suggested By another member (VeinGlory), I thought I should start a conversation looking at solutions to the big P word. So to kick off, what do you think of traffic shaping measures? I mean as proposed by FACT, where they are looking at slowing downloads and connection speeds of those sites known to contain pirate software and other materials. Also to tackle the larger downloaders, yet ignore the odd time downloaders.
The throttle solutions are not very bright; this is the solution used especially by cable ISPs.
The packet sniffing solutions are marginally "better" but are expensive. (Very expensive; you need to buy special hardware, and subscribe to a constantly updated database with information about what specific files look like, even when they are encrypted or compressed).
The site blocking solutions are a problem for me--and I'm in a losing minority here--because they assume that all bittorrent traffic, for example, is bad.
And there are legitimate reasons for bit torrents too.
The technology does actually work; but it stifles conversation/the market. Like DRM, it ultimately punishes the innocent, even if it may be marginally effective.
I'd rather work on the ethical issues. I'd rather convince people who are not pathologically dedicated to crime that there are better alternatives, and that what they are doing is wrong.
I do think that most people do not, for instance, steal at a grocery store less because of fear than because of personal beliefs.
I'd like to get to that kind of society with digital theft as well.