The six biggest ISPs in the UK have struck a deal with the government and the BPI to clamp down on illegal filesharing. The ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, or MoU, comes ahead of an announcement to be issued by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform later today, threatening ISPs with prosecution if they fail to tackle unlawful downloading of music and videos.
“We have looked to ISPs to acknowledge their responsibility to help deal with illegal file-sharing, engage in communicating the issue to their customers, and put in place procedures necessary to effectively tackle repeated unlawful file-sharing,” said a spokesperson for the BPI, the body that represents the British recorded music business.
Unsurprisingly, the list includes both BT and Virgin Media who have both already threatened to get medieval on errant customers. The four other signatories include Orange, Tiscali and Sky and the Carphone Warehouse - we were surprised to see that Charles Dunstone’s group had signed up, given that they had in the past told the BPI where to shove it with regard to adopting a three-strikes rule.
The new agreement sees ISPs adopting universal measures to deal with repeat offenders as well as a plan to commit to the development of more legal music download sites. The deal will involve providers sending warning letters to thousands of illegal downloaders telling them that their activities are being monitored and that they could face prosecution if they continue to flout the law. The crackdown is being hailed by the government as the “world’s first solution” agreed by the industry to tackle illegal file-sharing; it is estimated that last year alone around 6.5 million people in Britain downloaded files illegally.
Parents who receive the letters will be in for a shock, since many are unaware that their children have been downloading music, films and TV programmes illegally. They could be blacklisted and have their internet use curbed under the new plans. Households that ignore the warning letters could have their download speeds massively reduced, making it harder and more time-consuming to download large files, or even be blocked from using the internet altogether.
Concerns raised by this ruling include the prospect of subscribers having their wireless connections hacked and used by someone else for illegal downloads - under current proposals, this could see customers who are victims of pharming being held accountable for the illegal actions of others.
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