Andre Yoskowitz
3 Jul 2008 23:31
Virgin Media has denied recent reports that it plans to disconnect 'pirates' from the Internet for unauthorized file sharing and instead is working a policy out with the music industry. There is “absolutely no possibility” that users will be disconnected or that private details will be handed over to the record industry, added the company.
The BPI, the British equivalent of the RIAA, has been pushing UK ISP's to be more responsible with the actions of an estimated 6 million citizens who allegedly share files. On one end, there is Virgin Media who says it is working with the music industry, while on the other end there is Carphone Warehouse who has refused to comply with the demands.
Virgin has been hit with a publicity blitz as of late after it was revealed that Virgin users were receiving ‘educational warnings‘ at the behest of the BPI. The letters began with “Important: If you don’t read this, your broadband could be disconnected” so many were led to believe that their Internet would indeed be shut off by the ISP. Virgin has changed its tune however and is now saying that header was a "mistake" and that it should be ignored.
Asam Ahmad, rep for Virgin, added that the ISP cannot be completely sure if the alleged offenses were even committed by the person who received the letter. “It is important to let our customers know that their accounts have been used in a certain way but we are happy to accept it may not be the account holder that’s involved. It could be someone else in the family or someone living in a shared house. It could even be someone stealing wi-fi. We are not making any form of accusation.”