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A list of people believed to be pirating is going to be handed over to the film and music industry by a UK government watchdog.
The list of Britons who infringe copyright are to be drawn up by the UK's biggest ISPs, under proposals from the regulator Ofcom. Music firms and movie studios will be allowed free access to the list who will be allowed to drag infringers into court. Any suspected infringers will be sent three warning letters before any action can be taken, Oftcom said.
Jim Killock, executive director of the advocacy body the Open Rights Group (ORG) told the BBC that the proposals left "huge unanswered questions". The code only applies to big ISPs but could be extended. It tells ISPs under what circumstances they should inform customers that their accounts are allegedly being used to pirate copyrighted material. The code of conduct should come into force in early 2011 and was ordered as a product of the controversial Digital Economy Act (DEA).
But it does move things a step further. Not only will people identified as pirates have their internet connections cut off after three warnings, it appears that the evidence used to cut them off will be used in a civil court. Initially the code will only apply to ISPs that have more than 400,000 customers. This includes BT, Talk Talk, Virgin Media, Sky, Orange, O2 and the Post Office. An independent appeals process will also be set up for those customers who believe they have been wrongly accused of copyright infringement.
Practically it means that public money and a legal system will be used to benefit private industry, with no use for the public at all. There is also the dangerous precedent of ISPs being used as Internet cops for private enterprise.
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Ofcom to gather lists of copyright infringers
“We've got
them on our list”
A list of people believed to be pirating is going to be handed over to the film and music industry by a UK government watchdog.
The list of Britons who infringe copyright are to be drawn up by the UK's biggest ISPs, under proposals from the regulator Ofcom. Music firms and movie studios will be allowed free access to the list who will be allowed to drag infringers into court. Any suspected infringers will be sent three warning letters before any action can be taken, Oftcom said.
Jim Killock, executive director of the advocacy body the Open Rights Group (ORG) told the BBC that the proposals left "huge unanswered questions". The code only applies to big ISPs but could be extended. It tells ISPs under what circumstances they should inform customers that their accounts are allegedly being used to pirate copyrighted material. The code of conduct should come into force in early 2011 and was ordered as a product of the controversial Digital Economy Act (DEA).
But it does move things a step further. Not only will people identified as pirates have their internet connections cut off after three warnings, it appears that the evidence used to cut them off will be used in a civil court. Initially the code will only apply to ISPs that have more than 400,000 customers. This includes BT, Talk Talk, Virgin Media, Sky, Orange, O2 and the Post Office. An independent appeals process will also be set up for those customers who believe they have been wrongly accused of copyright infringement.
Practically it means that public money and a legal system will be used to benefit private industry, with no use for the public at all. There is also the dangerous precedent of ISPs being used as Internet cops for private enterprise.