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Veteran Nigerian singer Stella Monye has suggested amputation of the fingers as a potential avenue to curb rampant online music piracy. The artist, who describes herself as a “human rights activist” in her official Twitter bio, claims the draconian measures would quickly help to eradicate piracy.
“If their fingers are cut, they won’t see the hands to use in pirating the works,” the singer recently told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). “Cutting their fingers off will stop them, by the time you cut off two people’s fingers others will stop. They will learn and it will be faster in stopping them.”
Monye conceded that her suggestion is “drastic,” but explained that without such measures, piracy will be an ongoing issue. “Without a drastic measure, they won’t stop. Taking them to court to be fined N10,000 [$61.96 USD] will not deter them. They will pay and come out to continue,” she said.
“You become a pauper because of your pirated works, they impoverish you,” the singer explained to the NAN. “What is more wicked than pirating someone’s intellectual property and making the person suffer without getting anything from all the money he invested in the works?” Monye asked.
The singer’s comments come shortly after it was revealed that the UK has effectively given up on punishing online piracy. As Music Feeds reported, from 2015, UK households who pirate music and movies will receive up to four warning letters annually, with no sanctions for ignoring the letters.
Meanwhile, in Australia Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently stated that content providers should “sue mums and dads and students who are stealing their content.” As Fairfax reports, the comments come amid discussions in parliament about copyright infringement.
