p2pnet - rss feed: 3 ISPs blamed for most UK ‘illegal’ downloads
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:-In Canada, according to Bell, the country’s largest ISP, a tiny 5% of customers who use P2P file-sharing applications are responsible for massive bandwidth congestion problems.
The claim, similar to assertions made by Comcast in the US, is being vigorously contested and in America, Comcast has been ordered to halt its so-called ‘traffic throttling’ actions.
Now, in the UK, market research company Envisional says customers of only three of Britain’s leading ISPs, “are responsible for more than 60% of illegal downloads,” says PC Pro, going on:
“The company traced more than 28,000 unique IP addresses in June alone and found that 22.6% of them were Carphone Warehouse customers, with 21.6% from Virgin Media and 21.2% from BT.”
So, “ISPs will have to do more than send out letters to appease the Government and the music industry”.
This refers to the highly controversial attack launched by the ISPs against their own customers on behalf of the Big 4 record labels, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG, through their BPI (British Phonographic Industry).
800 warning letters
Britain’s six leading ISPs, BT, Virgin, Orange, Tiscali, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse, the BPI and the UK government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they pledged to “significantly reduce illegal file sharing”.
As part of the deal, Virgin sent 800 warning letters to its customers.
Among other things, It told them, “if you don’t read this, your broadband could be disconnected“.
But Carphone Warehouse, “insists it’s prepared to walk away from the table if draconian measures are introduced,” said an earlier PC Pro story, quoting a spokesman as stating unequivocally:
“Our priority is always to protect our customer. We will look at any sensible suggestion…. We haven’t got any plans to adopt any of those other measures at the moment.”
‘Other measurements’ included instituting the practise that’s already causing so much consumer discontent in north America —- ‘bandwidth management,’ aka ‘traffic throttling’.
And, “A panicky Virgin Media has disavowed itself of any possibility of taking legal action against, or banning, its customers as part of a corporate music campaign aimed at P2P file sharers,” said p2pnet, going on:
“Virgin Media has promised the BBC there’s, ‘absolutely no possibility’ of, ‘taking legal action or banning internet users as part of a campaign against illegal file-sharing on its broadband network’.”
Nonetheless, Envisional’s David Price told PC Pro, “Virgin only sent out 800-1,000 letters. It was only hitting a small amount of customers.”
“The bigger question is whether the mass letter writing we’re going to see over the next few months will have an effect,” he says in the story
And,”The Government has said you [the ISPs and the music industry] have to come up with an agreement,” he says. “If they don’t make this deal, the Government’s going to legislate something on top of them.”
Hardline letter sent by the BPI
Another p2pnet story, quoting Carphone’s reluctance to jeopardise its standing with its own customers by following BPI orders, opines it’s reasonable to believe the major UK ISPs may share the sentiments expressed by Carphone and Virgin, “even if they’re reluctant to say so in public”.
p2pnet went on, “Nor, it appears, is the UK government as firmly behind the Big 4 as BPI boss Geoff Taylor would like people to believe.
“A hardline letter sent by the BPI at the 11th hour threatened to undermine a deal to tackle illegal filesharing, prompting the government to express its displeasure of the music industry body in a terse response to record label executives,” says TechRadar.
It went on a BPI letter, signed by Taylor, was also copied to baroness Shriti Vadera, the UK governmemnt business minister, on July 23, the day a high controversy memorandum of understanding (MoU) was set to be signed by the BPI, the ISPs and Hollywood’s MPAA.
“[The] BPI may determine that it is necessary to bring legal action against one or more ISPs under current legislation to protect its members’ rights, notwithstanding any steps that may be taken pursuant to the MoU,” read its letter, adding “further action by ISPs is required” such as, “blocking access to websites that procure and facilitate online infringement” and the threat the BPI “reserves the right to exercise its existing legal rights to require such action when it deems appropriate.”
But Taylor and his letter received short shrift from Vadera, said The Guardian, going on »»»
Vadera, who sent a reply copying in Guy Hands, the chief executive of EMI owner Terra Firma, and senior executives at Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music, expressing her displeasure.
“I was disappointed at the timing, tone as well as content of the attached letter from you yesterday,” she said in a letter addressed to Taylor sent on July 24. “I am glad I was able to ensure that the MoU got signed despite it.”
Vadera added that she hoped the “attitude” of the BPI would be “constructive” going forward.
She said that to deliver the benefits of measures agreed in the MoU there was a need for a “goodwill and a grown-up constructive spirit of finding solutions”.
Stay tuned.
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.Stumble It!
P2P file-sharing - P2pnet traffic shaping digest, April 19, 2008
ordered to halt -Stop throttling traffic, Comcast ordered, August 1, 2008
PC Pro - Illegal downloads: which ISP’s customers are the worst?, July 31, 2008
significantly reduce - Carphone says No! to BPI scheme, July 25, 2008
PC Pro - ISP threatens to walk out of illegal file-sharing pact, July 25, 2008
p2pnet - Virgin shies away from anti-P2P threats, July 3, 2008
BBC - Virgin defends file-sharing campaign, July 3, 2008
TechRadar -Government slams BPI, July 31, 2008
The Guardian -Illegal filesharing: Government hits back at BPI over last-minute letter, July 31, 2008
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