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Virgin and BPI send letters to suspected pirates

6 June 2008 19:30 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 8 comments

Virgin Media ISP and the British Photographic Institute (BPI) have begun sending out a fresh batch of letters to customers who they suspect are participating in the unauthorized downloading of music and movies.

These customers will receive an 'informative correspondence" from both Virgin and the BPI which will "educate them on how to safely download music without being at risk of legal action."

The BPI, unlike other organizations like the RIAA, does not believe in suing users before they have at least received ample warnings, and acknowledges that some of the unauthorized downloads may have been done without the owners knowledge or consent. Unsecured wireless, children, and other family members using the computer without owner knowledge were the reasons given.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, added: 'Education is absolutely key to reducing the extent of illegal downloading and we are pleased to be working with Virgin Media on this campaign.'

The BPI however also notes that anyone who receives several warnings but "continues to offend" will have their Internet account cut off by the ISP and face legal consequences.

Permalink to this article

Virgin denies it will disconnect 'pirates' from the Internet (3 July 2008)

BPI CEO gets defensive about Virgin Media partnership (16 June 2008)

RIAA goes judge shopping in New York (14 June 2008)

Record labels sue P2P pioneer for $20 million USD (8 June 2008)

British police arrest 6 former OiNK users (3 June 2008)

Carphone Warehouse will not comply with 'three strikes' copyright plan (6 April 2008)

Ringleader in �5 million counterfeiting scam gets sentenced (2 April 2008)

Virgin Media gives pirates "three strikes and you're out" alternative (31 March 2008)

Four found guilty of conspiracy to infringe copyright in UK (24 March 2008)

OiNK's bail date extended (5 February 2008)

Parliament considers changes to U.K. copyright law (9 January 2008)

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Discuss this article!
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 6 June 2008 20:07
If they decide to send me one of these special letters then I'm leaving their service. [ + quote]
wylieb0y (Newbie) 6 June 2008 20:11
me tae like [ + quote]
varnull (AfterDawn Addict) 6 June 2008 20:57
Same here.. If they send me one they will get the response "prove it was me" and a copy of this article. http://dmca.cs.washington.edu/ Then I'm with the carphone warehouse... because I download everything through stolen wifi.. so how can they catch me? Welcome to the darknet.. where the terrorists and real criminals lurk. Forced there by the greedy and invasive. read this and then see a lawyer!! http://filesharingz.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t173302.html get one of those shyster no win no fee sharks who will take anything.. seek �1,000,000 compensation for invasion of privacy and threatening behaviour based on inadmissable under law evidence!! [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 June 2008 21:54
tripplite (Senior Member) 7 June 2008 13:36
varnull.....your an absolute nutter! *Quote:* This is a major defeat for those who attempt to enforce copyright in Italy. with all the factions nothing get done in Italy......every time the government request any information from anyone it's always the same non abbiamo pi� il materiale in questione even if the Italians had any information taken from people, that wouldn't mean a thing.....they would fire out all of those emails....then a week later the SP/GOV would simply clam non abbiamo pi� il materiale in questione nobody wants to keep a f#cking records anywhere! you file for a background check, put down the dam �300 and in a few days they request another �300 because I didn't fill out the proper forms!!! ha! Italians have nothing to fear from be punished with anything that deals with massive amounts of data....why?? because lots of data = lots of work...lots of work done by Italians means a guaranteed screw up:) peace -tripplite [ + quote]
varnull (AfterDawn Addict) 7 June 2008 13:42
But did you read the rest of it.. Italy is an EU member state and a legal precident set there impacts on EU directives and can be used as a defence in all other member states. That's why so many console modding sites (and my forums) are deliberately hosted there. Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. Im going outside now.. and I may be some time........ [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7 June 2008 13:50
7thsinger (AfterDawn Addict) 7 June 2008 17:48
*Quote:* That's why so many console modding sites are deliberately hosted there. Exactly. *Quote:* These customers will receive an 'informative correspondence" from both Virgin and the BPI which will "educate them on how to safely download music without being at risk of legal action." Yeah, buy a wi-fi USB device and pilfer. [ + quote]
Tashammer (Newbie) 9 June 2008 0:00
i wonder, i do, if it would be a good idea to flood snail mail of places like BPI, RIAA, etc etc. What with you might ask? i reckon they will have unauthorised copies of software, maybe even hardware and that they need to cease and desist etc. Seems to me that folks like that often forget to gain their own authorisations first. And, if nothing else, for the cost of a stamp, envelope and 1 sheet of paper the joy would be rather pleasant to experience. [ + quote]
Mez (Senior Member) 12 June 2008 21:19
varnull, I did expect to see you here and was not disapointed. [ + quote]