Government threatens file sharers with "technical measures"

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 5 Jun 2009 at 08:12

The Government is willing to implement "technical measures" to deal with the problem of illegal file sharing, according to culture secretary Andy Burnham.

Burnham warned ISPs that they can no longer sit back and adopt the 'mere conduit' defence that currently prevails.

His comments come ahead of the Digital Britain report, in which Lord Carter will outline measures for dealing with copyright infringement.

Burnham says the Government favours a voluntary approach to tackling illegal file sharing, but won't rule out legislation. "There will be many who don't think a simple notification would be effective and we will reserve the powers to apply technical measures for persistent offenders," Burnham told a Music Week conference, according to a report in The Guardian. "Applying these measures will be a serious business, and not one we take lightly, but it is right that they are in place."

Burnham's comments will hearten the film industry, which last week called for "speed bumps" to be placed on the connections of file sharers.

However, the culture secretary did rule out the possibility of a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" approach, which would see alleged file sharers disconnected.

Burnham's comments have, predictably, gleaned support from industry figures, including the chief executive of UK music, Feargal Sharkey. "The Government threw down the gauntlet to the music industry on this 12 months ago," he says. "We have done everything in our power to tackle the problem head-on so we can make sure we protect artists and keep producing amazing music.

"Now we are incredibly keen to see the Government in the Digital Britain report reciprocate its side of the bargain."

To hear the PC Pro team's thoughts on speed bumps for file sharers, download this week's PC Pro podcast.