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The country's largest ISP has begun sending out letters to its customers, according to a report on The Register, warning them they face losing their connection or even prosecution if they continue to use their account for illegal downloads.

"I have received a complaint regarding one of our customers offering copyrighted material over the internet," the BT letter states. "On investigation, I have found that your account was used to make this offer. This activity must stop immediately.

"Sorry, but we're obliged to point out that further similar problems may have to lead to the termination of your account, as such activity contravenes BT's Acceptable Use Policy. Please note that, should your account be closed as a result of contravention of BT's Acceptable Use Policy, you will still have to pay any sums owing under the terms of your contract with us."

Three strikes and you're out?

BT joins the ranks of Virgin Media and other

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leading ISPs in striking a deal with the BPI. The music industry body operates a "three strikes and you're out" policy, where customers are warned to cease sharing twice before being cut off.

The BPI employs a company to collect the "forensic evidence" against alleged file sharers, which includes IP addresses, file names and timestamps.

A BPI warning sent to customers along with the BT letter advises customers to "remove any P2P filesharing software from any computer(s) that connect to your BT internet service," and "ensure that any wireless router connected to your internet connection is securely protected using encryption and password access."

This is, of course, a little rich coming from BT, which has suffered numerous security problems with its Home Hub routers, including a flaw which could potentially cause the Home Hub to spit out passwords to hackers.

In a statement sent to PC Pro BT says it "has not changed its policy for dealing with copyright infringement and we have not joined any 'crusades'.

"We do ask that our customers adhere to our terms and conditions which state that they must comply with all relevant laws and not infringe the rights of others.

"We do work with various bodies to help them protect their copyright material and will sometimes pass on warning notices to customers on their behalf where we feel this is appropriate.

If a customer continues to be in breach of our terms and conditions then BT has the right to suspend or terminate that customer's account, though we work closely with customers to avoid this where possible."

The BPI was available for comment at the time of publication.