BPI goes after ISPs
July 10, 2006 | 20:18
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has proudly announced that it is turning over the information of 59 suspected file-sharers to their ISPs. The organization has begun to look more seriously into file sharing... well, actually, it has begun passing the buck to the ISPs.
Apparently, the BPI handed the list over to two seperate ISPs, Tiscali and Cable & Wireless. By doing so, it hopes that the piracy situation can be dealt with more swiftly. Of course, it did not provide any manner of help to either company to determine the validity of the complaints by the BPI.
Without a court warrant, the ISPs are not obligated to turn over information, and may actually breach their own T+Cs if they do so.
Neither company has confirmed that anything will be done at all for certain, but whether they act on the information could change how the BPI handles piracy in the UK as a whole. If they comply, the BPI will have learned a valuable lesson in not having to do much legwork of its own, and it can then press other companies to do likewise with their own manpower. Obviously, this means more staff, and more people sniffing through your transmissions to see if you're sharing files. That means a higher cost to the consumer, and lower privacy.
On the flip-side, not doing anything could make the BPI more interested in bypassing any rational attempts to handle the issue and instead proceed directly to legal methods. This could mean anything from suing the individuals to suing the ISPs themselves for allowing the content to be available. Hey, they might even be the second organization to sue a family without a computer for file sharing. At least they wouldn't be the first.
It's a difficult pickle, for certain. To act, or not to act? What do you think they should do? Drop a line in our forums and let us know!
Apparently, the BPI handed the list over to two seperate ISPs, Tiscali and Cable & Wireless. By doing so, it hopes that the piracy situation can be dealt with more swiftly. Of course, it did not provide any manner of help to either company to determine the validity of the complaints by the BPI.
Without a court warrant, the ISPs are not obligated to turn over information, and may actually breach their own T+Cs if they do so.
Neither company has confirmed that anything will be done at all for certain, but whether they act on the information could change how the BPI handles piracy in the UK as a whole. If they comply, the BPI will have learned a valuable lesson in not having to do much legwork of its own, and it can then press other companies to do likewise with their own manpower. Obviously, this means more staff, and more people sniffing through your transmissions to see if you're sharing files. That means a higher cost to the consumer, and lower privacy.
On the flip-side, not doing anything could make the BPI more interested in bypassing any rational attempts to handle the issue and instead proceed directly to legal methods. This could mean anything from suing the individuals to suing the ISPs themselves for allowing the content to be available. Hey, they might even be the second organization to sue a family without a computer for file sharing. At least they wouldn't be the first.
It's a difficult pickle, for certain. To act, or not to act? What do you think they should do? Drop a line in our forums and let us know!
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