U.K. Piracy Plan Brings Business Praise, Rights Worries
Internet piracy should be fought with a light regulatory touch, the British government said Thursday. It seeks comments on a plan for copyright owners and ISPs to negotiate codes of practice to address online infringement under the eye of U.K. telecommunications regulator Ofcom. As a possible first step, the government agreed with major ISPs, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Motion Picture Association on an approach to reduce unlawful file- swapping. ISPs and copyright owners welcomed the proposals, but some digital rights activists said they still make criminals of consumers.
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A voluntary memo of understanding outlines a self- regulation system to fight unlawful P2P piracy. Signers agreed that: (1) A joint industry solution is the best way and they will collaborate with Ofcom on codes of practice. (2) Led by the creative industries, they will try to teach consumers that file-swapping is wrong. (3) Consumers must be offered more attractive commercial content, in a wider range of formats.
The signers agreed to cooperate on a way to tell ISP customers when their accounts are being used for unlawful file-sharing. The six ISPs - BSkyB, British Telecom, Orange, Virgin Media, Carphone Warehouse and Tiscali - said they'll begin a three-month trial of sending notifications to 1,000 subscribers a week accused by music rights holders, based on specified evidence levels, of illegally uploading or downloading. The companies and Ofcom then will decide whether to expand the number and content coverage of the notices.
The MOU requires parties to identify ways to handle repeat infringers. An Ofcom-led group will report in four months on options, including traffic management, filtering and content-marking for identification. Rights holders will consider prosecuting the most persistent offenders.
Codes of practice will cover standards of evidence, actions against alleged infringers and repeat or criminal pirates, indemnity resulting from incorrect allegations of file-sharing and appeal routes for consumers, the MOU said. All codes would need Ofcom’s approval.
Not all ISPs are on board, so some regulation may be needed, said a Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform consultation document. The department prefers industry self-regulation along the lines of the MOU, with Ofcom leading a joint search for ways to handle infringers and ISPs required to act against subscribers identified as pirates. ISPs not participating in the self- regulatory system would have to have an effective policy on unlawful P2P file-sharing, the department said.
The document lists regulatory options. These include accelerating today’s process by making ISPs disclose personal data relating to an Internet Protocol address to content owners at their request, without a court order, and requiring ISPs to act directly against users identified as infringers. Alternatives are to authorize an outside body to consider evidence of piracy and order ISPs to act as required, and forcing ISPs to allow installation of filters or install them themselves.
The memo impending release prompted breathless hype. The Independent reported that the music industry would levy downloaders as much as Pounds 30 a year. The Times Online said parents whose children file-swap would be blacklisted, their Internet access curbed. Trying to quell the rumpus British Music Rights declared that the agreement makes no mention of a flat tax or blanket license and that it represents “the start of a process, not the end.”
Industry Support Strong
The content and ISP industries welcomed the government- brokered deal. BPI called it a “significant step forward” but said “the work really begins now.” BMR Chief Executive Officer Feargal Sharkey called it “an incredibly bold move” by both industries that could signify “that our futures will be increasingly intertwined.” Sharkey hailed the government for “getting people to the table” instead of pushing for an “unworkable and unsatisfactory” regulatory solution.
The Association of Independent Music, which suggests requiring ISPs remunerate artists whose music flows through their pipes, called the MOU a groundbreaking first step toward making money on music online. The U.K. Film Industry welcomed the chance to work with ISPs to cut film theft, the sector’s single largest threat.
The Internet Services Providers’ Association UK endorsed the strategy, urging the government to ensure that talks include all ISPs. It also invoked the importance of consumer education and serious legal alternatives to downloading content in any agreement on enforcement.
The Open Rights Group said some options on the table are “worrying,” including proposals to streamline the legal process by which ISPs release subscribers’ personal data, or to require them to act against their customers. There is no mention of disconnecting users in the MOU or legislative proposals, but it’s not ruled out, ORG said. And writing codes of practice on handling repeat infringers won’t involve direct consumer participation, with Ofcom ensuring a fair deal for consumers, it said.
Legal, attractive and competitive alternatives to illicit file-sharing are a “vital component” of any anti- piracy program, but the MOU suggests no timetable for providing them, ORG said. The proposal “has its priorities wrong - preferring criminalizing consumers over catering to them,” ORG said.
Comments on the proposals are due October 30 -- mike.klym@berr.gsi.gov.uk or adrian.brazier@berr.gsi.gov.uk.
- Dugie Standeford