Internet service providers may be required to cut online access
speeds for persistent online file-sharers, culture minister Andy
Burnham indicated this week.
A departmental spokesman said the minister referred to
"technical measures" to disrupt illegal file-sharing over the
internet. Simply disconnecting them is not the government's
preferred option, he said.
Speaking at a music industry event, Burnham all but ruled out
the UK adoption of a French preference for a "three strikes and
disconnect" rule to fight illegal file-sharers.
Burnham said the government's conclusions would be contained in
the final
Digital Britain report expected on 16 June. It would build on
last year's
Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between the five largest
ISPs, the government and music publishers, he said.
A University College London
report published by the Strategic Advisory Board for
Intellectual Property (SABIP) found that, based on one file-sharing
network, its 1.3 million users could easily consume £12bn worth of
copyright content in a year. It found seven million Britons had
downloaded copyright material. This is expected to increase as
faster broadband access become pervasive, a key goal of the Digital
Britain project.
Most ISPs have "fair use" policies that allow them to restrict
the bandwidth available to users without notice. This already
affects legal file-sharing, such as uploads of personal images to
websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Picasa. It also affects
Skype phone calls, which use peer-to-peer file-sharing
technology to send and receive voice and video calls.
Music and video publishers have called for a three strikes law
that would require ISPs to notify persistent offenders before
taking down their websites and refusing their traffic. This
provision is believed to be embodied in an international
anti-counterfeiting trade agreement being negotiated in
secret.
ISPs have objected to policing customers' use of the internet.
They defend their position as a mere "conduit", saying publishers
are trying to preserve an outdated business model.
Provisions in the Telecommunications Package now being thrashed
out in the Europe Parliament says end-users should decide for
themselves what content they want to send and receive, and how they
want to do it, without prejudice to the need to preserve the
integrity and security of networks and services.
"A competitive market should ensure that end-users are able to
access and distribute any content and to use any applications
and/or services of their choice," it said.
The provisions require ISPs to be explicit with any limitations
on the use of the net. This should specify the type of content,
application or service concerned, individual applications or
services, or both.