British ISPs could follow the lead of their French counterparts by kicking users off of the internet if they are suspected by entertainment conglomerates of having shared copyrighted material online.
The British government had given music/film companies and ISPs one year to come up with a voluntary solution to the "problem" of people redistributing content, but the deadline came around at the end of 2007 without an agreement between the parties.
The government now must "publish its options in a strategy document in the coming weeks and aseparate consultation later in the year to examine how it can cut downon piracy" on its own.
According to Reuters, the music industry has suggested that Britain copy France by forcing ISPs to issue warnings to customers suspected of uploading music without permission. If users ignore or otherwise fail to notice three such email warnings, they lose their internet connections – possibly forever, since ISPs could share data about "problem" subscribers.
A draft version of the proposal apparently includes the sentence, "We will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file-sharing." ISPs who failed to comply would be legally liable under the proposal.
Another suggestion from the labels is that ISPs filter content, which won't work for reasons explained here.
John Kennedy, head of the International Federation of the PhonographicIndustry (IFPI) said ISPs should be held responsible for controllingwhat their subscribers do with their internet connections:
No apparent mention was made of the idea of the music industry licensing ISPs the right toallow music fans to trade files in an unrestricted manner for $5/month,
although that idea is apparently gaining ground stateside.
(image from steeltoedclownboot)
