UK Sets Deadline for Action on Internet Piracy
In a move hailed by the record industry in the UK, the British government is putting pressure on Internet Service Providers to clamp down on illegal downloads. The county’s cultural minister has set an April 2009 deadline for action on the issue.
The British push against piracy comes not long after a similar agreement was reached among the French government, music industry, and Internet providers. The three parties signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding, which is a formal legal document describing an agreement. Under the so-called MoU, ISPs will monitor customers and disconnect those who refuse to cease illegal activity.
Digital downloads, both legal and illegal,have come to define the modern music experience. Online sales now represent 15% of all recorded music revenue internationally, up from 11% in 2006. However, illegal downloads cost the UK recording industry £150 million ($293m) each year. This adds out to roughly 20 illegitimate downloads for every single legal download.
The government has produced a non-binding proposal (called a Green Paper) entitled The World’s Creative Hub about the UK’s creative industries. The prevention of online piracy is one of the main topics of the paper. Under the proposal, people found pirating music would receive electronic warnings about their activity, similar to the French plan. If the customer were found to be in violation three times, their Internet service would be terminated.(1)
The British strategy would first involve a more vigorous pursuit of the government’s current policy of encouraging voluntary action. However, since the ISPs have made very little concrete progress on the matter by themselves, legislation is likely. A representative of the British Phonographic Industry said it “will continue to pursue voluntary arrangements, but unless these are achieved very soon we believe that the UK government must act as the French Government has, to ensure that the urgent problem of Internet piracy is tackled effectively.” (2)
The UK’s four largest Internet providers BT, Tiscali, Orange, and Virgin have already offered voluntary help on the issue. The country’s film industry has been even more proactive about coordinating with these providers than the music industry. The music and film industries are now beginning to collaborate with each other, but have differences about the logistical details of the ISP plan.
The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) represents the British providers, while the French companies are represented by an organization called the AFA. Backed by the government, the AFA has had much more success than its British counterpart. The French have been using creative technologies to seek out copyright theft online, using so-called ‘radar’ computer technology.
As with the French MoU, the British proposal of legal sanctions has drawn some criticism. Privacy advocates have raised objections about the government, or ISPs for that matter, monitoring the Internet activities of ordinary citizens. Moving forward, the government, ISPs, and music industry must work to ease the concerns of its critics and demonstrate that their monitoring techniques will not be invasive. If any public backlash can be avoided, the trend of government and ISP intervention may continue around the globe. That just might be the biggest development in the fight against piracy in a long time.
By Matt Hall
Footnotes
1) technology.timesonline.co.uk article
2) theregister.co.uk article
