Rich Fiscus
12 Feb 2008 1:58
It appears like British officials are looking to follow French President Nicolas Sarkozy's lead and consider putting illegal downloaders on warning with a "three strikes" law. The proposed law would result in a warning via email if suspected of illegally downloading movies or music, a temporary suspension of their internet service if a second violation is detected, and termination of their internet service upon a third offense.
Details are expected to be published next week in a Green Paper, which is the first step in the process of changing British law. A draft copy reportedly reads “We will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file-sharing.”
Although no details have been worked out yet on the amount of customer information that would be shared between ISPs, information on alleged offenders is likely to be available to the courts.
Internet providers have been engaged in talks over a voluntary system similar to the one proposed in the Green Paper. However, an agreement has yet to be worked out that satisfies both sides with regard to disputed infringement claims. A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said it remained hopeful that agreement over a voluntary agreement could be reached: “Every right-thinking body knows that self-regulation is much the better option in these areas.”
As with the French plan, this one seems to have one major strategic flaw. The key players in the entertainment industry seem to agree that online content is a major piece of the distribution puzzle, either downloaded or Streaming. The music industry in particular has already seen consumers forcibly change their business model to one increasingly dominated by internet distribution, from downloaded offerings from services like iTunes to internet radio and subscription services.
Although there are certainly some who would choose illegal downloading even if the same product were available for a price they could easily afford, that doesn't mean there aren't potential customers as well. It's hard to see the profit in cutting them off from the online marketplace and alienating them from an entire industry.
With the increasing availability of broadband internet outside the home on both public and private networks, this doesn't seem like a particularly effective tool against piracy. Much like DRM, it can be circumvented by a large percentage of the individuals the entertainment industry would most like to target.