Britain to crack down on illegal downloading

THE BRITISH government is to introduce a “three strikes and you’re out” rule to combat the illegal downloading of copyrighted material from the internet.

British business secretary Peter Mandelson revealed details of the plan at a government-sponsored creative industries conference in Hertfordshire yesterday.

From April next year, offenders will initially receive warning notifications, followed by targeted legal action by copyright holders. The government would reserve powers to suspend accounts as a “last resort” for the most serious infringers.

During his address, Lord Mandelson referred to an industry figure which shows that only one in 20 tracks downloaded in the UK is done so lawfully.

“The creative sector has faced challenges to protected formats before. But the threat faced today from online infringement, particularly unlawful filesharing, is of a different scale altogether. We cannot sit back and do nothing,” Lord Mandelson said.

He said the government would work with internet service providers (ISPs) and the creative industries to educate consumers that unlawful filesharing is not a victimless act.

The proposals have been opposed by internet rights groups and some ISPs.

Phone and broadband provider TalkTalk said it would resist any instructions to take technical measures against customers and said it was prepared to fight its case in court. Describing the plans as “ill-conceived”, it said: “The approach is based on the principle of ‘guilty until proven innocent’ and substitutes proper judicial process for a kangaroo court. In the event we are instructed to impose extra judicial technical measures we will challenge the instruction in the courts.”

A spokeswoman for Lord Mandelson said last night that lobby groups such as the Open Rights Group who say the law is disproportionate were “too fixated on the notion of suspension”, which, she said, would only be used as a “last resort”.

The lobby group said the law would restrict people from engaging in online banking, socialising, campaigning and other activities that are moving online.