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The BPI maintains that most of the downloading of illegal software is attributable to young people in the UK, and suggests that sending letters to the account holders - which the BPI believes to be their parents, in most cases - can help curb the problem.

The initiative is being run as a trial for 10 weeks, and both organisations

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are confident of making an impact with the scheme, although users who choose to ignore the letters will no receive no further punishment, according to the BPI. However, the body did admit that any future steps in this direction will be made based on the response of the trial.

"There's a clear need for better consumer education and ISPs have a key role to play in delivering that. Virgin Media and BPI will assess the effectiveness of this campaign after a short period, and review. We both believe it will be effective," said Geoff Taylor, chief executive at BPI.

The BPI has revealed that currently no other ISPs have followed Virgin Media's suit in tackling piracy by teaming up with them.

"The BPI believe that socially responsible ISPs do not want their customers' accounts being used unlawfully without their knowledge, so we remain positive that other ISPs will follow Virgin Media's lead," added Taylor.