British ISPs to share the cost of piracy

By Liam Tung on Jan 24, 2011 7:04 AM
Filed under Networking

Asked to contribute to expense of sending breach notices.

The British government will soon debate anti-piracy measures under its Digital Economy Act that could see internet service providers (ISPs) bear a quarter of the cost of sending copyright infringement notices.

The Act was rushed through last April, however the government has yet to debate secondary legislation regarding which organisations bear the cost of its proposed anti-piracy notification scheme.

The proposal outlines that that rights holders should bear 75 percent of the cost of the notifications process and an appeals mechanism while ISPs carry the remainder.

It was hoped the scheme will cut the financial damage of piracy to the music industry by half, according to Communications Minister Ed Vaizey.

“The Digital Economy Act sets out to protect our creative economy from online copyright infringement, which industry estimates costs them £400m a year,” he said

“These measures are expected to benefit industry by around £200 million a year and as rights holders will be the main beneficiaries, we believe our decision on costs is fair to everyone.”

The notifications will remind people that copyright infringement is unlawful and could be sent to up to 7.5 million British file-sharers who will also be pointed to legitimate sources of online music.

UK music rights lobbyist BPI has complained that the notification scheme was long overdue while the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) last week called on governments worldwide to provide more “legal tools” to combat piracy in 2011.

The calls come despite a 30 percent surge in revenues from online music sales in the UK made possible by the availability of ad-supported and subscription music services.

Analysts have argued that that the most effective method of stemming piracy is to provide legal online alternatives, not tougher laws.

“I would argue that the most important measure in countering this behaviour is licensing legal services which genuinely work,” Mark Mulligan, vice president and research director of Forrester Research told The Telegraph (UK) last December.

British ISPs to share the cost of piracy

6 comments in this discussion

"If 7.5 million British file-sharers do receive these letters, I hope they also become aware of the political alternative that the Pirate Party UK offers on this issue."

By Azrael

Tags

isp, piracy, notification

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Comments: 6

brownbear Jan 24, 2011 7:51 AM	What a brilliant idea. All those web sites I visit legally can now contribute 25% of my ISP bill to me for having the privilege of me viewing their site. Now don't argue itnews just write that cheque :-D
btone Jan 24, 2011 8:14 AM	Well this is the version of 'government' that comes from a twisted lovechild of the ruling class twits and the middle class twits who want to rule. After tripling the cost of tertiary fees why would anyone epect anything less than pandering to failed corporate dinosaurs who fill their party coffers. Not that the Labor twit Lord Mandelson and his policies were any less repressive. Basically the western worlds regimes attitude to online technology is broken in the extreme due to political ignorance and party dependence on rich but fading corporate structures.
M1-A2 Jan 24, 2011 8:29 AM	Actually, this is a neat trick. The Govt knows there isn't much margin in providing basic DSL, so by adding even a small overhead, they are hopeful the ISPs will be forced to block piracy themselves to avoid the costs of processing thousands, and there will be thousands, of notices a week. That way the govt dodges an unpopular political decision and can prove to their lobbyist and benefactors that the Govt is providing value for money for their political donations. This will also allow the copyright holders to continue with their deeply flawed physical media money tree. Australia will follow this idea like the timid lamb we are.
anonymous Jan 24, 2011 9:37 AM	Interesting that it was a Labour govt that cooked this up, and it is a ConDem govt that is happily imposing it. It seems that large political donations transcend all the usual party lines.
Mark D Jan 24, 2011 12:43 PM	What a joke. Then again it is to be expected, Authoritarianism is the way of the British.
Azrael Jan 24, 2011 8:40 PM	If 7.5 million British file-sharers do receive these letters, I hope they also become aware of the political alternative that the Pirate Party UK offers on this issue.