by SHANE SINNOTT

Slowly but surely, some sense seems to be emerging from the record industry. By saying that it’s not a crime to download, the industry not only acknowledges a reality but begins the process of making amends with fans, the antagonism of whom has been one of the main causes of the industry’s downward spiral in the last few years.

Oh no, wait—that didn’t happen. Musicians, however, are starting to move away from the old saw about downloading music being a “crime.” At least, that’s what the Featured Artist Coalition—billed as 140 of “Britain’s biggest rock and pop stars,” but strangely includes the guys you haven’t heard of in Blur and Radiohead—said at their inaugural meeting last week. The group was formed a while ago, and Billy Bragg is probably its most prominent spokesperson. He spoke out against suing music downloaders, even those that download illegally, by likening the process to “putting toothpaste back in the tube.” He went on to say, “Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment.” It’s nice to hear, though it’s hard to imagine what kind of effect it will have. Apparently, the coalition plans to express these views to Lord Carter, the U.K. government’s communications minister, which segues nicely into my next story. More info on FAC here: featuredartistscoalition.com.

So this Lord Carter, who sounds like a major douche, made headlines last week by saying that he plans to create a “digital rights agency” that would help combat illegal file-sharing in the U.K. The scariest element is Carter’s desire to have ISPs surrender the personal details of persistent downloaders. This is a precedent of which us Canucks should take note—things tends to filter over here from the U.K. No doubt the “probable cause” for digging up someone’s info will be data collected by the record companies themselves. The reason for the agency, the Lord says, is to end spats between ISPs and the entertainment industry, which have become a common occurrence in the U.K.