Should Filesharers Be Disconnected By Their ISP's? (and discussion about future laws)

Q&A: Disconnecting file-sharers

By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website

The UK's creative industries want the government to force Internet Service Providers to disconnect persistent illegal file-sharers. It is the latest step in a battle to stem the flow of internet piracy.

What are the UK creative industries asking for?

Nine bodies representing the creative industries - among them the UK music industry, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, and trade five unions, including the Musicians' Union - want the government to force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to warn, throttle the speed of connection and ultimately disconnect persistent illegal file-sharers.

They want a commitment to stopping file-sharing and the responsibility for doing so to be placed on the ISPs and for that to be enshrined in legislation.

What do the Internet Service Providers say?

ISPs have long said they do not want to become the internet police, and have also pointed out that under the law as it stands they are mere conduits of the traffic on the net.

The full-time role of monitoring traffic on their networks would also have a financial and resource impact.

The ISPs already have a voluntary agreement in place, which sees them send letters to users they suspect of sharing content illegally.

The networks also do not want to be seen to be disconnecting their own users.

What is the government's stance?

The government has repeatedly warned the ISPs to crack down on illegal file-sharers, but has stopped short of telling them to disconnect users.

Earlier this year, the UK's Intellectual Property minister, David Lammy, said the government would not force internet service providers to pursue file sharers.

"We can't have a system where we're talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms," he told The Times newspaper.

How big a problem is illegal file-sharing in the UK?

The creative industries estimate that six million people regularly file-share copyright content without permission.

In 2007, an estimated one billion music tracks and 98 million movies were shared illegally.

It has been reported that more than half of all traffic on the net in the UK is content being shared illegally.

How will ISPs detect illegal file-sharers?

ISPs routinely monitor traffic sent over their network, for maintenance and security purposes.

While it is relatively simple to monitor traffic sent using file-sharing programs, it is technically more challenging to know what exactly is being shared.

At present, content rights owners tend to monitor websites which offer links to copyright content and then obtain the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the online computer being used to share that data.

ISPs tend to own blocks of IP addresses, so it is relatively simple to identify the broadband account holder that is tied to a particular IP address at a particular time.

But this is a slow, and time-consuming procedure. One solution is to employ deep packet inspection (DPI) to look at the content of the "packets" of data being sent over the net.

The ISP can employ DPI to examine the contents of shared data and then using digital fingerprinting technology to see if the file is being exchanged with consent or not.

Will banning persistent file-sharers work?

The creative industries believe illegal file-sharing is almost endemic while the government has set a target of reducing the problem by at least 70% in the next two or three years.

The difficulty is that the problem is a moving target. More persistent file-sharers are already beginning to use software which masks their IP address while online, and the files being exchanged are encrypted, so it is harder for ISPs to use DPI technology.

However, the music and film industries are more likely attempting to target the "soft, underbelly" of file-sharing: the teenagers who are doing it because they are either apathetic or believe they can get away with it.

No, seems unworkable as per

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8046028.stm

Net firms reject 'policing role'
By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website

Internet service providers (ISPs) have rejected calls for them to police the net and cut off users who repeatedly file-share material unlawfully.

The umbrella group that represents ISPs said disconnecting users would be a "disproportionate response".

A coalition of UK creative industries wants the online connections of repeat offenders to be slowed or stopped.

The government has said it is looking at "penalties" for illegal file-sharers in its Digital Britain report.

In a statement, the Internet Service Providers Association (Ispa) said it disputed "calls from some elements of the creative industries for the disconnection of users or technological measures as a method of dealing with potential infringers of copyright online".

It added: "Ispa members have consistently explained that significant technological advances would be required if these measures are to reach a standard where they would be admissible as evidence in court.

"ISPs and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European Parliament."

Force ISPs

The coalition of music, film and TV and publishers, as well as entertainment trade unions, have issued a joint statement, in which it calls on the government to force ISPs into taking action against file-sharers.

John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council, said ISPs had to "put on a deputy's badge".

"You can send out all the cease and desist e-mails in the world, but ultimately if there isn't any sanction with some sort of threat of disrupted broadband, then the threats are empty and will be ignored."

He added: "A graduated response which leads to pain for persistent piracy is the only viable option."

However, Barbara Follett MP, minister for the creative industries, told a conference of industry executives in London that the government was favouring a system of warning letters to offenders with the threat of legal action, rather than disconnection.

She said the government was a "little nervous" of taking steps that would see users' connections slowed or stopped altogether.

Rights holders

While not ruling out any particular sanction, she said: "We are going to build on the memorandum of understanding set up last year between government, ISPs and rights holders.

"We propose a requirement for ISPs to notify their customers that are engaging in unlawful file-sharing and notify them in such a way that any further action would have consequences.

"The consequences we propose are legal action; I know some people feel that is not sufficient."

She said the detail of the types of legal action to be taken would be included in next month's Digital Britain report.

She said that ministers were looking closely at events in France where the government is trying to introduce a "three strikes and out" policy for unlawful file-sharing.

Legal action

However, many in the creative industry are concerned that the onus to take legal action against "pirates" will fall on them, and not on the ISPs.

Simon Juden, chief executive of the Publishers' Association, said: "A letter threatening another letter is simply not good enough."

Ispa has also called on the creative industries to simplify and improve the licensing that is needed for firms to offer legal alternatives to file-sharing unlawfully.

"Ispa is disappointed that the creative industries continue to advocate legislation on enforcement without considering how the complicated licensing processes that many stakeholders believe are at the root of the problem can be reformed," the umbrella group said.

Mr Woodward agreed the film industry had to introduce radical new business models if it were to succeed in the digital age and needed to work with ISPs to become partners in distributing content.

"There needs to be a better relationship between content providers, ISPS and consumers."

He said that ISPs might be willing to consider a graduated response to tackling piracy if content providers were willing to pay distribution fees to ISPs.

"ISPs would be incentivised to tackle piracy," he said.

virginmedia already slow down filesharers. They call it Traffic Management
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

France' parliament approved this today

information wants to be free

man

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/8046055.stm

If 50% of your internet traffic is "illegal" that seems to indicate that the law is wrong and doesn't reflect actual public usage.

i dont think file sharers should be disconnected by their isps because then i wouldnt be able to go on the internet (ive become quite accustomed to it)

i hope filsharers don't get disconn-

"French 'net piracy' bill passed "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8046564.stm

i think they should make it so that every time u d/l something illegally theres a small % chance that it will contain a pattern that fires your brain killing u dead so the more u d/l the more likely u will die of it adds an exciting new element that to something that tbh feels more routine than criminal atm

French gov are just irked because not enough of the illegal file-sharing there is in the French language

http://thumbnails.hulu.com/9/977/32950_384x288_generated__NL0YTcJI-0S1kT5KTMEhOw.jpg
Internet Service Provouder!

Is posting complete BBC news articles legal? :-)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001GDP00.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8049495.stm

File-sharing sites help make popular acts more popular, finds a study.

The research, by industry body PRS for Music, showed the most pirated pop songs tend to be those at the top of the music charts.

There was little evidence that file-sharing sites helped unsigned and new bands find an audience, it found.

It suggests file-sharing sites are becoming an alternative broadcast network comparable to radio stations as a way of hearing music.

Long tail

The study, carried out by Will Page, chief economist at the PRS, and Eric Garland, head of media tracking firm Big Champagne, looked at patterns of music usage among file-sharers.

It aimed to see if that pattern of use had any lessons for the way music is marketed and sold.

Many have claimed that the unprecedented amount of choice on the web would give rise to new models of music distribution.

This "Long Tail" argument, say the authors, claims: "If you offer people more choice, and help them make that choice, they will take that choice."
If true, this could mean that music makers should focus attention away from a few popular acts towards the mass of bands with smaller, dedicated followings.

However, found the pair, usage on file-sharing sites closely mirrors that on legitimate music sites. There was no evidence of the Long Tail operating.

The authors wrote: "Much of the volume (sales or swaps) is concentrated amongst a small proportion of the available tracks."

The reason for this, claim the authors, is that there is too much choice on file-sharing sites.

The breadth of music available means that people do not have time or do not want to search through it all or listen to it all for the tracks that they might like.

Instead their searches are constrained by what they see in the media, and what their friends are listening to.

They said: "After taking into account some geographic differences, the top of the many music charts, from licensed and unlicensed venues, are markedly similar."

They added that BigChampagne had never seen a big hit on the pirate networks that was not also a top seller in the licensed world.

Mr Page and Mr Garland suggest that file-sharing sites are reinforcing divisions in the music world and only making the popular more popular.

Despite this, the report said, the fact that music was free on file-sharing networks meant people did occasionally listen to bands they had never heard of before.

By contrast, on sites where people have to pay to listen they only download the tracks they know they want.

"If the sellers sell it, it might never be bought; but if the swappers offer it, at least one person will likely take it," said the study.

Given this, said the authors, it might be worth music companies regarding file-sharing sites as comparable to radio and TV as a broadcast network.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Oh my. I am utterly shocked at these results.

/sarcasm

"The consequences we propose are legal action; I know some people feel that is not sufficient."

is she saying that there are sections of the Creative Industries that want to see filesharers murdered?

There's no other explanation is there?

She was stroking a rabbit when she said it.

Persistent pirates could be cut off from the web as Lord Mandelson pushes for a U-turn on UK file-sharing law.

...The technical measures are likely to include suspending the net accounts of "hardcore copyright pirates".

It is believed that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has intervened personally to beef up the policy.

File-sharing is not illegal. It only becomes illegal when users are sharing content, such as music, that is protected by copyrights