UK government gets tough with internet pirates

The UK government has accepted the huge and growing problem of internet piracy with Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw promising tougher measures to crackdown on illegal file-sharing.

Measures that the UK government is supporting include:

• Warning letters to those illegally downloading content
• Allowing telecoms watchdog Ofcom to release the identities of serial infringers to facilitate prosecution by rightsholders
• Making internet service providers (ISPs) slow down the internet connections of repeat offenders, although the government appears to have backed away from getting ISPs to terminate internet access altogether

Representatives of the content industries - including ALPSP - have been working together to ensure that the government understands the economic and social importance of the creative industries and the negative impact that illegal file-sharing is having and it is great to see that our message seems to have gotten through despite fierce lobbying from the ISPs who oppose these measures.