British plan to tackle illegal downloaders

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.

Speaking at a government-sponsored C&binet creative industries conference in Hertfordshire today, British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson revealed details of the plan which will form the basis of the forthcoming Digital Economy Bill.

Offenders will initially receive warning notifications, followed up with targeted legal action by copyright holders. The government would reserve powers to suspend accounts as a "last resort" for the most serious infringers.

Highlighting the scale of the challenge, Lord Mandelson referred to an industry figure which shows that only one in every 20 tracks downloaded in the UK is downloaded lawfully.

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

The Business Secretary said the British government would work with ISPs and the creative industries to educate consumers that unlawful file-sharing is not a victimless act.

He called for the development of commercial models by rights holders and ISPs to offer digital content legitimately, and at the best price for consumers.

However, two of Britain's largest ISPs, BT and Carphone Warehouse, have objected to their new role as policemen of the Web and are likely to continue to object.

Lord Mandelson said the forthcoming legislation, which will be published at the end of November, will ease restrictions in other areas. It is envisaged that the legislation will come into effect in April 2011.

He said there was a case for existing copyright laws to be modernised to reflect reasonable consumer behaviour which did not damage the sustainability of the creative industries.

This would enable someone who has bought a CD to copy it to their MP3 player or share it with family members without infringing the law. Such activity is not lawful under the current framework.

The Open Rights Group, a British digital lobby group, said the law would "remove our fundamental right to a trial, to be presumed innocent before proven guilty, and punish people in a grossly disproportionate manner."