Music pirates face internet ban

The British music industry has asked ISPs Tiscali and Cable & Wireless to suspend 59 internet accounts used for illegal filesharing.

The move marks a development of the British Phonographic Industry's three-year campaign against illegal filesharing. Until now the BPI has concentrated its efforts on individual uploaders, pursuing legal action against 139 uploaders.

All four cases which have gone to court have been found in the BPI’s favour. In all, 111 uploaders have chosen to settle out of court paying amounts of up to £6,500 in settlement.

The BPI said dealing directly with ISPs lets it deal with a greater volume of cases more quickly and efficiently.

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said, "We have demonstrated in the courts that unauthorised filesharing is against the law. We have said for months that it is unacceptable for ISPs to turn a blind eye to industrial-scale copyright infringement. We are providing Tiscali and Cable & Wireless with unequivocal evidence of copyright infringement via their services. It is now up to them to put their house in order and pull the plug on these people."

The BPI said it has identified 17 Tiscali IP addresses and 42 Cable & Wireless IP addresses which have been used to upload significant quantities of music owned by BPI members. It is requesting that the ISPs suspend the accounts of the 59 individuals until they sign undertakings agreeing to stop unauthorised filesharing.

BPI General Counsel Roz Groome said, "Both Tiscali and Cable & Wireless state in their terms of use for subscribers that internet accounts should not be used for copyright infringement. We now invite them to enforce their own terms of use."

A Tiscali spokeswoman told Web User: "Tiscali has received the letter from the BPI by email at 10.15 this morning and we will be dealing with the request in the normal manner. We do not automatically suspend customer accounts on request, but on occasion do so pending investigation. We are reviewing the information they have provided and will respond appropriately."

http://www.bpi.co.uk