Ministry of Sound blames BT for file-sharing failure

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 3 Nov 2010 at 16:39

The Ministry of Sound is blaming BT for forcing it to back off from sending warning letters to accused file-sharers.

The music label said BT was supposed to hold onto the records of 25,000 of its customers, so Ministry of Sound's lawyers Gallant Macmillan could send out letters demanding settlement payments of £350 from accused illegal downloaders.

BT had previously handed over such data to the music label and other rights owners. However, it became wary of the process after ACS:Law, a legal firm which also sends out such letters, leaked customer data after a denial of service attack.

BT filed with the courts against the entire process, saying it wouldn't hand over any more customer data until the music label proved it could keep the information secure - and ensure innocent consumers weren't being targeted or abused.

"The safeguards we aim to establish via the court are on the security of data handling, a threshold for providing a customer’s details based on a minimum number of separate incidents, the tone of contact with broadband subscribers and a reasonable approach to financial compensation sought,” BT said in a statement.

In the meantime, some of the records the Ministry of Sound requested have apparently been deleted, in keeping with BT's 90-day data retention.

We're surprised at this claim since we provided a similar number of customer details to comply with a court order earlier this year

“It is very disappointing that BT decided not to preserve the identities of the illegal uploaders," said Ministry of Sound CEO Lohan Presencer.

"Given that less than 20% of the names remain and BT costs have soared from a few thousand pounds to several hundred thousand pounds, it makes no economic sense to continue with this application," he said.

BT surprise

In turn, BT expressed surprise that MoS was pointing the finger in its direction. "We're surprised at this claim since we provided a similar number of customer details to comply with a court order earlier this year for Ministry of Sound and there was no suggestion then that this was a problem for them," it said.

"All such information is automatically deleted from our systems after 90 days in accordance with our data retention policy; the Ministry of Sound and it solicitors are well aware of this," the ISP added. "Upon request from Ministry of Sound we saved as much of the specific data sought as we reasonably could and any not preserved must have been too old."

File-sharers shouldn't see the setback as open season on Ministry of Sound's content, however. "We are more determined than ever to go after internet users who illegally upload our copyrighted material," Presencer said. "We will be making further applications for information from all ISPs.”

BT added: "Our door remains open to Ministry of Sound and any other rights holder who wants to enforce their rights in a fair way through an established legal process.”