Britain’s business secretary, Lord Mandelson, says he will press for controversial legislation that would kick off the Internet — at least temporarily — persistent downloaders of copyrighted material. If the so-called three-strikes law is passed by Parliament, people who flaunt repeated warnings will see their Internet access suspended for short periods.
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According to press reports, Internet service providers would be required to send out warning letters to people tagged as serious downloaders. These users would then see their access speeds throttled back, and finally they would be knocked offline for short periods.
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It’s an idea that has won support in France, home of Vivendi Universal. The label has been a prime lobbyist for three strikes in Britain as well. Music-industry group BPI likewise praised the idea. The measures confirmed today by government are a proportionate way of encouraging illegal file sharers to embrace the new services, and will drive further innovation that will benefit online consumers, said BPI CEO Geoff Taylor.
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‘Demonizing’ the Public?
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The proposal is, however, hugely controversial in Britain, with consumer groups, ISPs and web music services seething over the prospect of government intervention in Internet access. Steve Purdham, CEO of British web music service we7, wrote an op-ed in The Times that stated, Simply cutting people off is not the answer. He advocated educating consumers about services like we7 that offer legal streaming of music as an alternative to downloading.
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Artists need to be paid, and the average consumer wants to support the music they care about. But at the end of the day, it is not for them to find a way to do that; the onus is on the government and the industry to promote the monetization of online music, instead of demonizing and punishing the general public, Purdham wrote.
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ISP Talk Talk strongly criticized the proposal after…