UK anti-file sharing move angers ISPs
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- All is not well in Not-So-Great-Britain following the announcement, “People who persist in swapping copyrighted films and music will have their internet connections cut off under tough new laws to be proposed by the government,” as The Guardian summed it up.
But some British ISPs, the people who’d have to make it work, and who’d also take the brunt of any repercussions from users, don’t see it like that.
Consumer Focus and the UK Internet Service Providers Association ( ISPA ) both, “reacted with concern” to news that the government could force broadband ISPs to cut-off those ’suspected’ of involvement with illegal file sharing piracy, says ISPreview, going on to ISP TalkTalk as stating »»»
We’re dismayed by the U-turn on illegal filesharing announced today by Lord Mandelson. Barely two months after the publication of largely sensible and pragmatic measures to tackle the problem (in the Digital Britain Report) Lord Mandelson has, it seems, caved in under pressure from powerful lobbyists in the content industry.
TalkTalk broadly supported proposals outlined in the Digital Britain Report to address illegal filesharing through education, letters to alleged offenders and court-based action against serious offenders.
Introducing measures such as disconnection at the instigation of the Secretary of State will sidestep proper scrutiny, likely breach fundamental human rights and result in innocent people being disconnected or, worse, prosecuted. What`s more, they will not work.
Disconnecting alleged offenders will be futile given that it is relatively easy for determined filesharers to mask their identity or their activity to avoid detection. The evidence that is used to identify offenders is unreliable due to the prevalence of multi-users per account and wifi-hijacking and so will result in innocent customers being cut-off from broadband.
We also believe that these measures will breach fundamental human rights to privacy, data protection and basic freedoms from intrusion and monitoring. If disconnection is carried out in an extra-judicial way alleged offenders will be denied basic legal rights such as right of appeal and the ability to see and interrogate the evidence. This is a view shared by consumer groups.
TalkTalk will strongly resist any attempts to introduce laws that would put obligations on ISPs to act as `internet police` and implement technical measures against their consumers.
The post also has the Open Rights Group saying »»»
This is the wrong moment to go in this direction. Online music revenues are going up, illicit filesharing is going down. Instead of letting the market solve the problems, the government seems intent on heavy-handed intervention, that could include disconnection and other account restrictions. This would be in direct contravention of their own goal of universal broadband access, as well as a curtailment of people`s freedom of expression.
Yet again, we see knee-jerk reactions and policy swerves, this time in direct contravention of the government`s own consultation guidelines. Those guidelines are there for a reason: to make sure government policy is balanced and considered. We will be making a formal complaint.
Continues ISPreview:
“Several other ISPs, including BT and Virgin Media UK, have also added their support to many of the comments above with similar remarks. Indeed there does appear to be a strong consensus building against this latest move. It’s interesting to note that quite a few ISPs appear to have given way to support the original Digital Britain report`s conclusions, which is quite a turn around. All credit to Labour’s Lord Peter Mandelson for screwing it up again.
“We note that even the Conservative MP, John Whittingdale – a strong supporter of measures to prevent illegal file sharing, thinks Mandelson may have gone too far with some of his changes (e.g. the “cut-off” measure). Whittingdale hinted that opposition is likely to be strong, thus ironically Mandelson might have inadvertently delayed the bill until after the next general election.”
Stay tuned.
Not-So-Great-Britain – UK caves to cartel anti-P2P law, August 25, 2009
The Guardian – Internet cut-off threat for illegal downloaders, August 26, 2009
ISPreview – UK Consumer Groups and ISPs Concerned by New Gov Piracy Stance, August 26, 2009
August, 2009
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