Our “Sing Our Petition” contest against the Government’s filesharing proposals has been running for the past month. Entries finally closed last week and Stephen, who kindly agreed to judge it for us, has announced his favourite.
The winner is a punk protest song called Only Idiots Assume written by Londoner Liam Mullone and sung by his friend Hils Barker.
Reminiscent of the punk songs of the 1970s, Only Idiots Assume is a stinging attack on the Government’s poorly thought out plans to disconnect people suspected of watching films and music online without paying for the privilege. The creators themselves describe it as a “ska-punk reply to Peter Mandelson”.
So why did Stephen Fry choose this as his winner? This is what the man himself had to say:
“I am insanely in love with Only Idiots Assume. It’s got the anger, the wit, the musical skill – all in a wonderful package that reminds me of the high days of my youth when punk roamed the land and the young were angry and funny and spunky and spiky.”
We launched the Sing Our Petition contest to show the depth of public feeling about the Government’s misguided proposals. We wanted to tap into the outstanding creativity of the Great British public to send a clear message to the Government – these laws won’t work and people don’t want them.
Last week we held an event for MPs and Peers designed to demonstrate the futility of the proposals, specifically why the system designed to spot copyright infringement will entrap completely innocent customers while persistent offenders will remain undetected.
We hope events like this, and Sing Our Petition, will help those in authority see sense.
So congratulations to Liam and Hils – they receive the £3,000 top prize. Runners-up prizes are going to three other entrants, which you can see – along with all the other entries – on the Don’t Disconnect Us site.
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