The UK government is considering new legislation that would give ministers new powers to direct the telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, to introduce “technical measures” clamping down on internet piracy, including blocking internet access for repeat offending.
The new proposals, unveiled by the government on August 25, would involve an obligation on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to take action against individual, repeat infringers - for example by blocking access to download sites, reducing broadband speeds, or by temporarily suspending the individual’s internet account.
However, suspending an individual’s internet account may only be added to the list of technical measures as a “last resort” against the hard core of copyright pirates.
Evidence on whether such action is required would be provided in regular reports from Ofcom to the Secretary of State with responsibilty for digital communication, state the proposals, released in an explanatory memorandum.
Previously, it had been proposed that Ofcom would undergo a detailed process in order to ascertain that technical measures were required, but this would not have been in place until 2012, and the government has now reached the view that this might be too long to wait “given the pressure put on the creative industries by piracy.”
According to the government, the proposals would potentially allow action to be taken against illegal file sharing earlier.
The government has extended the current consultation on unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing to September 29 to allow the public to respond to the new ideas. If accepted, the measures could be included in the forthcoming Digital Economy Bill, to be laid before parliament later this year or next year.
The government is also seeking views on how the costs of the process should be covered. It proposes that some costs, such as the operating costs of sending out notifications and Ofcom’s costs as the regulator, should be shared equally between ISPs and rights holders.
Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms said: “Technology and consumer behaviour is fast-changing and it’s important that Ofcom has the flexibility to respond quickly to deal with unlawful file-sharing.”
He added: “We’ve been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it’s become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders.”
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