UK ISP, Record Industry Join Forces to Fight Illegal File-Sharing

Virgin Media and the British Phonographic Industry(BPI) announce start of 10 week trial in which warning letters will be sent to those suspected of distributing copyrighted music illegally.

Virgin Media and the British Phonographic Industry(BPI) have announced a new "education campaign" that seeks to "...help Virgin Media’s broadband customers safely download music from the internet and avoid the risk of legal action."

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor says the industry needs to partner with ISPs to stop illegal activity and “this is the first illustration of this. It is significant."

It's "significant" alright because what it really means is the start of a new campaign in which copyright holders get access to ISPs in order to effectively begin restricting or filtering the flow of data on their networks.

The way the plan will work is that IP addresses identified by the BPI to have been sharing copyrighted music illegally will be forwarded to Virgin Media. The individuals will then receive one warning letter from Virgin Media and one from the BPI, but both letters will be distributed by Virgin Media so that customer names and addresses will not be given to the BPI (for the time being at least).

The warning letters will contain practical advice on how to prevent internet account misuse, links to legitimate music download sites, and the potential dangers – threats of viruses and spyware - of downloading files from illegal sites.

Commenting on the new campaign, Virgin Media said: “Virgin Media's fibre optic broadband is a great platform for people who want to download lots of music on-line. But we want them to do so without infringing the rights of musicians and music companies. This campaign is about helping our customers understand how they can do this and get the best out of the internet.”

It is apparently Virgin’s legacy in the music biz that has made it decide to take these steps to "educate customers" and try to be "responsible."

"We believe that new partnerships with ISPs can help build an internet in which music is properly valued," he notes. "That will benefit not just musicians, songwriters and labels, but all internet users who love music. This joint campaign with Virgin Media is the first step towards achieving that goal.”

Does the filtering of all data for the improper sharing of copyrighted music really benefit "musicians, songwriters, and labels" or really just mostly labels? Digital distribution allows the former to bypass the latter and deliver music directly to fans. It also allows them to bypass the exorbitant fees and costs that labels have been forcing on them for decades.

“Virgin Media is the first ISP to publicly address the problem. It is a socially responsible ISP and I think other ISPs will look at this and see progress,” says Taylor.

Let's hope not.