Mandelson to maroon file-sharing pirates
Updated on 28 October 2009
Internet users who persistently download files illegally will face having their accounts suspended, as the government launches new anti-piracy proposals.
A week after we heard newspapers were beginning to flex their muscles against news aggregators, Lord Mandelson has fired the latest canon ball against the music pirates.
After a consultation process that has divided the telecoms and media industries, the business secretary indicated he was ready to push forward with the proposals. He says repeat illegal music rippers will be cut off from the internet, in a move aping similar legislation in France.
"I was shocked to learn that only one in 20 music tracks in the UK is downloaded legally. We cannot sit back and do nothing," he said.
People would only be cut off from the internet after ignoring two prior warnings, and there would be an appeal process for those targeted.
Speaking at a creative industries conference in Hertfordshire, Lord Mandelson said the power, to be introduced under the digital economy bill, would be used as a "very last resort" and would only affect "persistent rule breakers".
But on closer supervision the procedure by which the Blackbeards of musical cyberspace will find themselves marooned is complicated.
Ed O'Brien, guitarist from the band Radiohead and director of the Featured Artists' Coalition, a campaign group made up of bands and artists leading opposition to the government's proposals spoke to Jon Snow about the moves.
"The problem is as anybody who knows anything abut the internet knows that, if you disconnect people you drive people underground," he said.
"I.e. you get users turning to encryption and when you do that you've basically lost these people. You can't track them - you could lose them forever.
"Rather than disconnection a much better approach would be - how about bandwidth throttling which basically means you slow down their streaming. I believe the British film industry, that's their preferred means of dealing with persistent file-sharing.
Eddy Leviten, head of communications for FACT, the Federation Against Copyright Theft told Jon Snow, "We support the idea of "technical measures" which could mean that people have more limited access to certain parts of their broadband account but they would still be able to do banking, home shopping and emails.
"Initially we know that when most people are sent a warning letter, we know as we've done the research to show this, about two thirds of them would stop this type of activity.
"So we're hoping we never get to the stage where they would even get a second letter."
The government says it's three warnings and you're out. Our assessment seems to make it nearer 17 steps before you are banned.
And of course the music industry is divided. Studio bosses, as well as musicians like Lily Allen, think Lord Mandelson is the business.
Others like Radiohead (Ed O'Brien is on our programme tonight) portray him as a King Canute trying the impossible.
Under the proposed legislation, there would be reserve powers to instruct internet service providers to take "technical measures" against illegal file sharers.
Measures could also include slowing down internet connections as an alternative to cutting off users altogether.
But the internet service providers are furious that they may have to run the policing of the web. Years on from Napster, copyright holders refuse to give up in any way whatsoever.
The war will never be won either way.
