Illegal filesharing: trade bodies demand UK government crackdown
Posted in: Government & Policy at 04/08/2011 14:41
Leading trade bodies for the film and music industries have warned the government that it must move quickly to implement an effective system to crack down on pirate websites, after Vince Cable announced that plans to block illegal file-sharing websites have been scrapped.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music industry body the BPI, said the government must urgently broker a deal between internet companies and rights holders to implement a fast-track procedure to crackdown on piracy or "a failure to do so will see some of this country's world-leading industries irreparably damaged on this government's watch".
To read this report in The Guardian in full, see:
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/aug/03/illegal-filesharing-trade-bodies-crackdown
Britain Takes New Tack in Piracy Fight
Britain plans to legalize something that many of its citizens have been doing already, perhaps unaware that they were breaking the law: copying music or movies from compact discs or DVDs onto other storage devices, like iPods.
The government said Wednesday that it planned to legalize so-called format-shifting as part of a broad overhaul of the country's copyright laws aimed at bringing them up to speed with digital technology and the fight against piracy. Across much of the rest of Europe, format-shifting has long been permitted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/technology/britain-takes-new-tack-in-piracy-fight.html
Individuals will have to pay to contest copyright infringement warnings, Government says
Internet users who risk being blacklisted as illegal file-sharers will have to pay £20 to appeal against warning letters they receive about their behaviour, the Government has said.
Plans for internet service providers (ISPs) to serve customers suspected of online copyright infringement with warning letters about their behaviour were proposed by communications regulator Ofcom last year.
http://out-law.com/page-12130
New website blocking regulations not on the agenda, Government says
The Government has sidetracked plans to create new website blocking laws following a recommendation from the UK's telecoms regulator.
Alternative blocking measures that tackle illegal file-sharing will be explored instead, it said.
Provisions within sections 17 and 18 of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) allow the Culture Secretary to draw up new regulations that would see courts decide whether to force ISPs to block access to pirated copyright works, but for the moment the Government has decided not to write the new laws.
http://out-law.com/page-12129
